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Scene in the House on the Passage of the Proposition to Amend the Constitution, January 31, 1865.

Scene in the House on the Passage of the Proposition to Amend the Constitution, January 31, 1865./tiles/collection/6/6832.xml
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Date

1865-02-18

Publisher

Harper's Weekly

Dimensions

15 1/4 x 10 5/8 in. (38.7 x 27 cm)

Accession Number

2008.033.004

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

The House Chamber overflowed with jubilant occupants in 1865. They were celebrating the passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolishing slavery, as illustrated on the cover of Harper’s Weekly. After four years of civil war, the magazine was firmly behind the amendment, making this medical analogy in describing the opposition’s argument: “[W]hen a patient lies in mortal peril from a fever contracted in the fetid air of this chamber, it is better to wait until he is cured before the room is ventilated.”

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Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov