The Corwin Amendment: Promise of Perpetual Slavery

Lincoln made a comment in his inauguration address, the meaning of which might escape the casual student of history. The comment was:

"I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution which amendment, however, I have not seen has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service [slaves].

"To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments so far as to say that, holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable."

Lincoln was speaking of the proposed 13th Amendment to the Constitution. Written by northern Republicans in Congress, it also was called the Corwin Amendment, after Rep. Thomas Corwin of Ohio who introduced it in the House.

This proposed 13th Amendment read: "No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic institutions thereof, including that of persons held to labor or service by the laws of said State."

The Southern states were practically handed a constitutional concession agreed to by the northern controlled congress, making slavery a permanent institution in the U.S. So, if slavery was truly the primary issue in secession, why didn't the Confederate government accept this offering instead of choosing to dig in its heels and fight for its independence?

This exposes claims that the Union went to war in 1861 to free the slaves to be historically untrue. It also undermines claims that the South seceded solely to preserve the institution of slavery. If that had been the South's goal, what better guarantee did it need than an unrepealable amendment to the Constitution to protect slavery, as it then existed? more...

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