President Obama and Congressional leaders gather in the Capitol's Emancipation Hall
House Speaker Paul Ryan who said, The Thirteenth Amendment is just 43 words long. It is so short that, when you read it, you can almost miss the whole significance. You have to stop and remind yourself that 600,000 people died in the Civil War.
President Obama who said We betray the efforts of the past if we fail to push back against bigotry in all of its forms, but we betray our most noble past as well if we deny movement or progress.
Dr. Louise Toppin, a soprano from the University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, singing Lift Every Voice and Sing
150th Anniversary of Ratification
President Barack Obama was welcomed on Capitol Hill by House Speaker Paul Ryan and several House and Senate Members to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery. It became effective the moment it was ratified by the required number of states on December 6, 1865. Four million slaves became free.
The ceremony was held in the Capitol's Emancipation Hall of which Speaker Ryan said "…we are here in Emancipation Hall, this was named in honor of the enslaved workers who helped build the Capitol. I can think of no more fitting place to celebrate this great moment in American history."
President Obama said we "...commemorate a century and half of freedom not just for former slaves but for all."