Congress and the Civil War (1) Exhibited : October 2011 - March 2012

The issue of slavery permeated debate in Congress from the founding of the country through the mid-nineteenth century. The failure to resolve differences between states on the issue of slavery led to the Civil War. To manage both the war effort and its consequences, Congress crafted new legislation that addressed a changing nation.

For more than two hundred years, the Capitol has been the place where representatives of the American people have debated how best to achieve the nation’s ideals. This exhibit displays some of our most important documents to illustrate the role of Congress in defining and helping to realize national goals and aspirations.

The aspirations of unity, freedom, common defense, general welfare, knowledge, and exploration all derive from the Constitution. The Preamble declares that the highest goals of the government are “to form a more perfect Union,” and to provide for “common defense,” “general Welfare,” and the “Blessings of Liberty.” Article I gives Congress the power to promote “Science and useful Arts,” which has resulted in congressional support of knowledge and exploration. The meaning of liberty is further defined in the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, which guarantee specific freedoms.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment I, Constitution of the United States

The desire for freedom and the quest for individual liberty are American ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In each era, Congress has debated and enacted measures to secure and expand freedom for all Americans, as demonstrated in these historical documents.

Fighting for Freedom - 2

  • Broadside, “Meeting For the Organization of a Colored...

    Broadside, “Meeting For the Organization of a Colored Regiment in the District of Columbia,” 1863

    After issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln authorized recruitment of African American regiments. White Army officers posted recruitment notices, and black leaders including Frederick Douglass encouraged enlistment as a step toward gaining full civil rights. Approximately 1,500 African American men enlisted in the District of Columbia’s First Regiment.

    Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, National Archives and Records Administration
  • Ambrotypes, Portraits of black soldiers, no date,...

    Ambrotypes, Portraits of black soldiers, no date, Gladstone Collection

    Many Civil War soldiers and sailors had their portraits made as keepsakes for loved ones. These images from the Library of Congress convey the personalities of African Americans who served in the war to end slavery in the United States.

    Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Though African Americans fought in previous wars, they were not legally allowed to fight for the U.S. until 1862. With growing resistance to the draft and a demand for additional troops, Congress recognized the need for black soldiers and sailors. The Militia Act of 1862 allowed President Abraham Lincoln to recruit African-American men for military service. Some 198,000 African Americans fought in the Civil War—for the Union, for freedom, and for their right to full citizenship.

The Fifteenth Amendment

  • Lithograph, The Fifteenth Amendment and its Results,...

    Lithograph, The Fifteenth Amendment and its Results, drawn by G.F. Kahl, Baltimore, lithograph by E. Sachse & Co., c. 1870

    A parade in Baltimore, Maryland, celebrated the enactment of the Fifteenth Amendment. This commemorative print features portraits of President Abraham Lincoln (top center), abolitionist Frederick Douglass (bottom left), and Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi (bottom right). Revels, the first African American elected to Congress, won a seat formerly occupied by a slaveholding secessionist.

    Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

Following the Civil War, Congress passed and the states ratified the Fifteenth Amendment. It prohibited states from denying citizens the right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude," although women were excluded from the privilege. The language was a compromise between radical and moderate Republicans during Reconstruction of the South after the Civil War. Many Southern states, however, found ways to evade its intent through intimidation, poll taxes, literacy tests, or other means of denying suffrage.

The Amistad

  • Lithograph, Joseph Cinquez (Cinque) (Sengbe Pieh), c. 1839

    Lithograph, Joseph Cinquez (Cinque) (Sengbe Pieh), c. 1839

    Sengbe Pieh, known as Joseph Cinquez (Cinque), a Mendi chief of Sierra Leone, led the Amistad mutineers. This lithograph, distributed by the New York Sun newspaper, misidentified Cinquez as Congolese but used his celebrity to promote abolition. It quotes his speech to his fellow mutineers after they had seized control of the Amistad.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    Brothers, we have done that which we purposed, our hands are now clean, for we have Striven to regain the precious heritage we received from our fathers…I am resolved that it is better to die than be a white man’s slave… .

    Art by Isaac or James Sheffield, lithography by Moses Yale Beach, Boston: Joseph A. Arnold

    Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
  • Affidavit of Kimbo, New Haven, Connecticut, October 7, 1839

    Affidavit of Kimbo, New Haven, Connecticut, October 7, 1839

    Kimbo, a Mendi man, gave his testimony through an interpreter. He was sold to a Spaniard in Africa, brought by ship to Cuba, and then forced onto the Amistad, where he suffered hunger, thirst, and severe beatings. Representative John Quincy Adams reviewed this document in preparing his defense of the Amistad captives.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    …he was then carried by force on board the vessel…he had half enough to eat and drink…asking for more water he was driven back with a whip…for stealing some water he received a severe beating… .

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
  • Draft of the Amistad brief [to the U.S. Supreme Court], by...

    Draft of the Amistad brief [to the U.S. Supreme Court], by John Quincy Adams, ca. February 1841

    Representative John Quincy Adams opposed slavery and spent years fighting the Gag Rule that suppressed discussion of the issue in Congress. He based his defense of the Amistad mutineers on their basic human rights, arguing that the Africans were free individuals, enslaved against their will, and not the property of Spanish slave traders.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    The charge I make against the present Executive administration is that in all their proceedings relating to these unfortunate men, instead of that Justice…they have substituted Sympathy!—Sympathy, with one of the parties in this conflict of Justice—and Antipathy to the other. Sympathy, with the white—Antipathy to the black… .

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
  • John Quincy Adams, oil on canvas, by Ed Ahlstrom, 2002

    John Quincy Adams, oil on canvas, by Ed Ahlstrom, 2002

    Representative John Quincy Adams served both in the Senate (1803–1808) and—after his presidency (1825-1829)—in the House (1831-1848). He is the only former U.S. president to return to public service in the House.

     

    Painting by Ed Ahlstrom after Jean-Baptiste-Adolphe Gibert

    Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

In an 1841 Supreme Court case that was a rallying cause for abolitionists, Massachusetts Representative (and former President) John Quincy Adams argued for the rights of West African captives from the Spanish slave ship Amistad. The Africans had mutinied and attempted to sail homeward, but were eventually imprisoned by American authorities. Abolitionists made their case a legal test pitting individual human rights against property claims. Adams argued that racial prejudice underlay the U.S. prosecution of the Africans, and the Supreme Court ruled for their freedom.

Freedom from Past Exhibitions
View All »

    Stanton’s Address to the Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections

    When suffrage leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton addressed a Senate committee in 1878, her speech invoked Senator Charles Sumner’s words that “Our Constitution...already secures to the humblest individual all the rights...of American citizens. But as statesmen differ in their interpretation” of the Constitution, she argued, an amendment was needed specifying women’s right to vote. Stanton was president of the National Woman Suffrage Association.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • S.R. 16, 38th Congress

    This Senate resolution became the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery in the United States or any place subject to its jurisdiction and gave Congress the power to pass legislation necessary to enforce the amendment. Submitted to the states on January 31, 1865, its ratification was completed within the year, on December 6, 1865.

    Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration

    Madison’s Notes for His Speech Introducing the Bill of Rights, June 8, 1789

    James Madison introduced the Bill of Rights in the House of Representatives and provided many of the intellectual arguments for strengthening and amending the Constitution so that it protected basic liberties.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Letter from James Madison to Edmund Randolph, August 21, 1789

    In June 1789, Representative James Madison of Virginia introduced a number of amendments to the newly ratified U.S. Constitution. That summer the House of Representatives fiercely debated the issue. In this letter to fellow Virginian Edmund Randolph, Madison describes the challenges of moving the amendments through Congress.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Congressman Abraham Lincoln’s Draft of a Bill to Abolish Slavery in the District of Columbia, January 1849

    As a junior congressman from Illinois, Lincoln drafted a bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia. His cautious proposal offered payment to slave owners and only emancipated children born after 1850. Lacking support for the bill, Lincoln abandoned it. In 1862, as president, he signed an act emancipating slaves in the nation’s capital.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

    President Abraham Lincoln’s Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862

    President Lincoln believed that permanent abolition of slavery was essential to the survival of the nation. In this address, he likened the war to a “fiery trial,” and summoned the Union to the great task of abolishing slavery, declaring that “In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free…”

    Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration

  • George Washington’s notes on George Mason's Objections to the Constitution of Government formed by the Convention, October 7, 1787

    Constitutional Convention delegate George Mason of Virginia, whose thoughts on liberty had strongly influenced Thomas Jefferson’s writing of the Declaration of Independence, objected to the lack of a “Declaration of Rights” in the U.S. Constitution. Fellow Virginian George Washington, who presided over the Constitutional Convention, made notes regarding the freedoms Mason considered essential.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    Liberty of the press––no declaration to secure it or the Tryal by Jury in civil causes—nor against the Danger of Standing Armies in times of Peace

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • "The Woman Who Dared" cover illustration by Thomas Wust (of Susan B. Anthony) for The Daily Graphic, June 5, 1873

    This satirical portrait of Susan B. Anthony reveals fears about changing gender roles: she wears Uncle Sam’s hat, men do the childcare, and women rally for their rights.

    Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

  • Abraham Lincoln, lithograph copy of the Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863

    In the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863, President Lincoln specified areas of the nation where enslaved people would be liberated. The proclamation focused on freeing slaves held as property within states that had seceded in rebellion from the Union. States not represented in Congress were considered to be rebellious.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    …I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free…

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Map, "Votes for Women a Success: The Map Proves It," ca. 1914

    In 1914 the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) announced success in its state-by-state campaign for voting rights. Nine states had enfranchised women, and NAWSA was optimistic that many others would soon follow. This map, meant for display at rallies and meetings, indicated the status of women’s voting rights in the 48 states.

     

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • H.J. Res. 75, Proposing the Equal Rights Amendment, December 13, 1923

    In 1923, Representative Daniel Anthony, nephew of suffragist leader Susan B. Anthony, introduced the Equal Rights Amendment in the House, while Senator Charles Curtis introduced it in the Senate. In 1972, Congress finally passed a reworded version: "Equal Rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."

     

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Letter from Benjamin Franklin to Vice President John Adams, February 9, 1790

    Benjamin Franklin was president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery from 1787 until his death in April 1790. One of his last public acts was sending this letter and petition to Vice President John Adams, who presided over the Senate. Franklin, formerly a slaveholder, became an ardent abolitionist after ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    At the Request of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, I have the Honour of presenting to your Excellency the enclosed Petition…

    Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Broadside, “Meeting For the Organization of a Colored Regiment in the District of Columbia,” 1863

    After issuing the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln authorized recruitment of African-American regiments. White Army officers posted recruitment notices, and black leaders including Frederick Douglass encouraged enlistment as a step toward gaining full civil rights. Some 1,500 African-American men enlisted in the District of Columbia’s First Regiment.

    Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, National Archives and Records Administration

    Antislavery Petitions from Women, 1835–1849

    These antislavery memorials are representative of the vast number of petitions sent by women to Congress. They urged Congress to end the slave trade and slavery in Washington, D.C., and not to admit new slave states into the Union. Signers included African American abolitionists Sarah Douglass and Charlotte Forten and women’s rights advocates Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth McClintock.

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives and Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Memorial against slavery in the District of Columbia from females of Philadelphia, December 25, 1831

    Antislavery petitions that flooded Congress in the 1830s included many of huge size. This one, signed by 2,211 women of Philadelphia including reformer Lucretia Mott, advocated the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. Petitions were so large Congress began referring to them by weight rather than by source or title.

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration

  • “A Petition for Universal Suffrage,” January 29, 1866

    After the Civil War, as Congress prepared to extend voting rights to black men, suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton recognized the opportunity to include women in any constitutional changes. This petition—signed by Anthony, Stanton and other notable suffragists—asked Congress for “universal suffrage” for all citizens, regardless of sex.

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Petition against ERA, Diocesan Bureau of Social Service, Hartford, Connecticut, February 4, 1924

    The Connecticut Council of Catholic Women petitioned Congress in protest of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Voicing concern for the nation’s nearly 12 million women industrial workers, they argued that the ERA would invalidate such hard-won special protections as mother’s compensation and limitation of women’s work hours, unless men received the same benefits.

    It has taken years to obtain legislation which will offer the right protection to women workers…With the passage of this measure all of this legislation will be invalidated unless there is similar legislation for men.

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Petition of Absalom Jones, and others, people of color, and freemen against the slave trade to the Coast of Guinea, January 2, 1800

    In this petition, Absalom Jones, a former slave and other freemen of Philadelphia decried the slave trade, describing the kidnapping and enslavement of African Americans. They did not demand immediate emancipation of all slaves, but implored Congress to ameliorate the cruel effects of the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act.

    In the Constitution, and the Fugitive bill, no mention is made of Black people or Slaves––therefore if the Bill of Rights, or the declaration of Congress are of any validity, we beseech that as we are men, we may be admitted to partake of the Liberties and unalienable Rights therein held forth––firmly believing that the extending of Justice and equity to all Classes, would be a means of drawing down the blessings of Heaven upon this Land…

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration

  • The Nineteenth Amendment, Passed by Congress, June 4, 1919

    After the Supreme Court denied women voting rights under the Fourteenth Amendment in 1875, suffragists began a campaign to grant voting rights under state law and by a federal constitutional amendment. In every Congress from 1878 to 1919, a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment to enfranchise women was introduced in either the House or Senate. Finally in 1919, both houses of Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment, and three-fourths of the states necessary ratified it the following year.

    General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Ceremonial Copy of the Thirteenth Amendment, 1864-1865

    A measure of the importance placed on the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, is this ceremonial copy signed by its supporters. Members of Congress signed this copy after the bill passed in their respective houses. Although the president was not required to sign the amendment, Lincoln added his signature on February 1, 1865. He did not live to see it become law.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • New York’s ratification of the Bill of Rights, March 27, 1790

    In September 1789, the First Congress sent twelve constitutional amendments to the states for ratification. New York’s legislature approved eleven of them in February 1790 and this official parchment copy was sent to President George Washington. By December 1791, three fourths of the states had ratified ten of the articles, and Congress adopted them as amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

    General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

    President Abraham Lincoln’s message to Congress recommending a Resolution to Encourage Gradual Emancipation, March 6, 1862

    Aiming to limit the growth of slavery in states bordering the South, President Lincoln urged Congress in 1862 to adopt a joint resolution encouraging gradual emancipation. The plan offered federal financing to assist in the economic transition of any state that abolished slavery. Congress passed the resolution but no state accepted the offer.

    Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration

    North Carolina's Proposed Amendments to the Constitution and Declaration of Rights, August 1, 1788

    North Carolina did not initially ratify or reject the U.S. Constitution, but adopted this resolution containing a Declaration of Rights and Proposed Amendments to the Constitution. North Carolina did not ratify the Constitution until after the Bill of Rights was proposed to the states.

    General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

  • An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony on the Charge of Illegal Voting at the Presidential Election in November, 1872

    After voting in a national election, Susan B. Anthony was arrested and tried for violation of federal law. She testified, “Your denial of my citizen’s right to vote, is the denial of my right of consent as one of the governed…the denial of my sacred rights to life, liberty, property.” Anthony spent decades advocating the vote for women which was not won in her lifetime.

    Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress

  • Letter from Senator Charles Sumner to President Abraham Lincoln, November 20, 1864

    Republican Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was a leading abolitionist in Congress. In this letter to the president, Sumner expressed his view that slavery was the main cause of the Civil War and that emancipation, once declared, could not be revoked. He urged President Lincoln to take a strong stand in dealing with the leaders of the rebellion.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    …I have replied…that freedom once given could not be reclaimed, & that the Country was solemnly bound to the immediate present freedom of every slave in the rebel States.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Photograph of delegations of women in support of woman suffrage on east Capitol steps, May 9, 1914

    In May 1914 the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage, headed by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, organized a demonstration in the nation’s capital for women’s voting rights. Five thousand suffrage supporters marched from Lafayette Square down Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol and delivered stacks of petitions from around the nation to Congress.

     

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Handbill, "Equal Rights Amendment," ca. 1920s

    he National Women’s Party (NWP) was one of the first women’s rights groups to lobby in favor of the Equal Rights Amendment. This NWP flyer highlighted hopes that a constitutional amendment would guarantee women equality with men in pay, professional opportunities, property, child custody, contracts, and all other rights of citizens.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Petition from the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, February 3, 1790

    The Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery was founded largely by Quakers in 1775. The Society petitioned the First Congress (1789-1791) to end slavery, calling the institution an “inconsistency” in the American character. The Senate took no action; the House, after bitter debate, also failed to abolish slavery before adjourning in 1791.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    That mankind are all formed by the same Almighty being, alike objects of his care & equally designed for the Enjoyment of Happiness the Christian Religion teaches us to believe & the Political Creed of America fully coincides with the Position.

    Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration

  • A Slave Coffle Passing the Capitol

    This late-19th-century illustration depicts a slave coffle passing the U.S. Capitol as it appeared—without a dome—in 1815. In 1862 Congress abolished slavery in Washington, D.C.

    Reproduced from A Popular History of the United States, by William Cullen Bryant, 1876-81

    Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

    Index of Petitions referred to the Select Committee to Abolish Slavery in the District of Columbia, 1836

    The House of Representatives formed a select committee to deal with the influx of petitions urging the end of slavery in Washington, D.C. The committee kept a log of the petitions, noting for each one the date, the member who presented it, the group who sent it, and the number of signatures.

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Ambrotype, portrait of a black sailor, no date, Gladstone Collection

    Many Civil War soldiers and sailors had their portraits made as keepsakes for loved ones. This sailor was one of approximately 198,000 African Americans who joined Union forces in the war to end slavery in the United States.

    Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

  • “Welcome to Petitioners to U.S. Senate, July 31, 1913,” Hyattsville, M.D.

    Suffragists tried new tactics in 1913. In March, just before President Woodrow Wilson’s first inauguration, they staged a grand parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in the nation’s capital. In July, women’s rights activists from every state met in Hyattsville, Maryland, for an automobile rally to deliver petitions to the U.S. Senate.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Leaflet issued by the Legislative Council, Boston, with arguments for and against ERA, February 1924

    Benjamin L. Young, speaker of the Massachusetts House, sent this leaflet to Congress with a petition opposing the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The leaflet contrasts Alice Paul’s arguments for the ERA with Young’s arguments against it. Young objected to any changes in laws affecting women, and he feared federal encroachment on states’ rights.

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Tennessee’s Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, August 18, 1920

    Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, completing the ratification process of three-fourths of the states. The amendment enfranchised women throughout the nation. Under their own laws, 29 states had already granted women the vote.

    General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

    Senate Revisions to the House Version of the Bill of Rights, September 9, 1789

    This document shows the changes the Senate made to the amendments passed by the House. Representative James Madison reduced over 200 suggested amendments to 19, of which the House approved 17. The Senate combined articles and revised text, reducing the 17 to the 12 that, after being passed by both houses, were sent to the states for ratification. The states ratified 10 of the amendments—today’s Bill of Rights, which became effective on December 15, 1791.

    Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, August 9, 1788

    Thomas Jefferson expressed to James Monroe his conviction that Congress should strengthen the new Constitution by adding amendments to guarantee important civil liberties. Of the liberties he cited, trial by jury, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press were codified in the ten amendments ratified by the states in 1791.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    This constitution forms a basis which is good, but not perfect. I hope the states will annex to it a bill of rights assuring those which are essential against the federal government; particularly trial by a jury, habeas corpus, freedom of religion, freedom of the press…

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

    Petition of Susan B. Anthony for remission of fine imposed for voting, January 12, 1874

    Because women lacked full citizenship rights, Susan B. Anthony could not appeal her conviction of illegal voting. Instead, she petitioned Congress for remission of her fine. Anthony insisted the judge’s ruling was in violation of common law and of the “common morality” of the Constitution. Congress considered bills to remit the fine but took no action.

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    …an indictment was found against her by the grand jury….charging your petitioner….with having "Knowingly voted without having a lawful right to vote."

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

    Flyer, "The Federal Suffrage Amendment," ca. 1917

    The National Woman’s Party created this flyer to explain the steps for securing women’s right to vote nationally. By 1917 women had gained full suffrage in only 11 of 48 states. The flyer argued that pressuring Congress for a constitutional amendment would be more successful than pursuing suffrage state by state.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Statement of Margaret Mead on the ERA, September 12, 1975

    Anthropologist Margaret Mead initially opposed the Equal Rights Amendment, fearing it would negate workplace and other special protections for women. After Congress passed the revised amendment she fully supported it, arguing that "We need the full participation of women in every type of work ... at every level of government and industry."

    Click here to view an excerpt.

    The United States can hardly stand up among the nations of the world as the land of the free while arguing over the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Representative John Quincy Adams's motion denouncing the "gag rule" as unconstitutional, May 27, 1836

    The House of Representatives passed three resolutions protecting slavery, introduced by Henry Laurens Pinckney of South Carolina. One of the Pinckney Resolutions, the “gag rule,” tabled antislavery petitions without discussion, on the grounds that Congress had no right to interfere with slavery. In response, Representative John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts submitted this motion declaring the gag rule unconstitutional.

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration

  • Hand-colored ambrotype, portrait of a black soldier, no date, Gladstone Collection

    Many Civil War soldiers and sailors had their portraits made as keepsakes for loved ones. This soldier was one of approximately 198,000 African Americans who joined Union forces in the war to end slavery in the United States.

    Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress

  • Reception to U.S. Senate Petitioners, Hyattsville, M.D., July 31, 1913

    This postcard shows a welcome reception in Hyattsville, Maryland, marking the start of an automobile procession to the U.S. Capitol. Suffragist delegations assembled to hear speeches by local leaders before making the half-hour drive to Washington, D.C. They carried banners and petitions for women’s right to vote.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Why: The Equal Rights Amendment NOW! National Woman’s Party, ca. 1939

    To many, an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was crucial in guaranteeing equal justice for women. For fifty years, equal rights advocates, including the National Woman’s Party—who produced this pamphlet—campaigned for the ERA. Representative Martha Griffiths of Michigan played a key role in securing the ERA’s passage in 1972. Ultimately the amendment failed to achieve ratification.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • Senate Revisions to the House-passed Amendments to the Constitution, September 9, 1789

    Representative James Madison of Virginia winnowed more than 200 proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution to nineteen. The House of Representatives debated them and sent seventeen to the Senate, which further consolidated the articles into twelve. Approved by both houses, they were sent to the states—Articles three through twelve were ratified and became the Bill of Rights in 1791.

    Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.

  • NOW flyer, "Countdown Rally for ERA Ratification," June 30, 1981

    The National Organization for Women (NOW), the League of Women Voters, and ERAmerica, a coalition of women’s organizations, were leading proponents of the Equal Rights Amendment. NOW’s 1981 ERA support rally took place in Lafayette Square, near the White House, where suffragists had often rallied for the right to vote.

    Manuscript Division, Library of Congress

  • "Gag Rule" Resolution, December 21, 1837

    The resolutions of May 1836 applied only to that session of Congress. The House of Representatives renewed the gag rule each subsequent session until 1840, when it became a standing rule until rescinded in 1844. This 1837 resolution was the second gag rule. Like the others, it tabled all antislavery petitions without further action or discussion.

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration

  • “U.S. Senate: ‘Democracy—Piffle!’” by Nina Allender, January 18, 1919

    Nina Evans Allender was an accomplished artist, a committed suffragist and the official political cartoonist of the National Woman’s Party (NWP). Her cartoons, published in the NWP weekly newspaper The Suffragist, portrayed women’s rights advocates as young, vibrant, and capable. Her drawings documented the suffragist struggle and contributed to its success.

    Sewell-Belmont House

  • Certificate of Missouri Ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, July 3, 1919

    The U.S. Constitution requires three-fourths of the states to ratify an amendment. On June 4, 1919, Congress proposed an amendment enfranchising women. Within a month, Missouri became the eleventh state to ratify it. Tennessee’s ratification on August 18, 1920, met the requirement for 36 of the 48 states, and the Nineteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution.

    Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives and Records Administration