Slavery Amendment

State archives to display Lincoln's slavery amendment

10/24/2006 9:43 AM
By: Associated Press

RALEIGH -- An amendment to the U.S. Constitution that was signed by President Abraham Lincoln but never ratified will be on display at the North Carolina State Archives on Wednesday.

The amendment, sometimes called the "Ghost Amendment," would have prohibited Congress from passing future amendments that would abolish slavery or interfere with state laws related to slavery. The amendment passed through Congress and was signed by Lincoln in March 1861, before the Civil War started.

The document was found among papers owned by North Carolina's then-Gov. John W. Ellis, said Fay Mitchell Henderson of the State Archives.

"It's kind of the evil twin of the one that actually did pass," she said.

State Archives officials believe the document has never been displayed publicly.

The "Ghost Amendment" will be available for viewing in the State Archives Search Room, along with other old documents related to North Carolina history.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press

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