Today in Labor History Feb 1 Lincoln approved the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery & more stories

[Omaha Steve]

February 1

The Collar Laundry Union forms in Troy, N.Y, raises earnings for female laundry workers from two dollars to 14 dollars a week - 1864

February 1, 1865 - President Abraham Lincoln approved the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery.

Bricklayers begin working eight-hour days - 1867


25,000 Paterson, NJ silk workers strike for eight-hour work day and improved working conditions. 1,800 were arrested over the course of the six-month walkout, led by the Wobblies. They returned to work on their employers’ terms - 1913

February 1, 1960 - Four young African-American students sat down at a segregated lunch counter in the Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina. Their courageous protest galvanized the civil rights movement and led to hundreds of similar sit-ins at segregated facilities across the South.

The federal minimum wage increases to $1.60 per hour - 1968


February 1, 1978 - The first U.S. postage stamp to honor an African-American woman, Harriet Tubman, was issued.

International Brotherhood of Firemen & Oilers merge with Service Employees International Union - 1995

Labor history found here: http://www.unionist.com/today-in-labor-history & here: http://www.workdayminnesota.org/index.php?history_9_02_01_2010

[CBGLuthier]

1. Presidents are not part of the constitutional amendment process.

I am sure he "approved of" it but in no way can he be said to have "approved" it. Early propaganda?

[Omaha Steve]

2. President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress

http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=old&doc=40

The 13th amendment, which formally abolished slavery in the United States, passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House on January 31, 1865. On February 1, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. The necessary number of states ratified it by December 6, 1865. The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

[MousePlayingDaffodil]

3. You are correct, of course . . .

. . . constitutionally-speaking. But President Lincoln DID apparently sign the XIII Amendment on February 1, 1865, after it had passed the House of Representatives. His signature was of no constitutional significance, however, as your comment indicates.

The XIII Amendment wasn't actually ratified until December 1865.