photo courtesy of the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, on this day in 1865, the United States of America abolished slavery with passage of the 13th Amendment!It was the first amendment to the Constitution in more than 60 years, as the initial 12 amendments occurred shortly after the Constitution was adopted.
There were still approximately 40,000 slaves remaining in Kentucky alone were freed by the 13th Amendment.”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.”
The 13th amendment, along with the 14th & 15th, is one of the trio of Civil War amendments that greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans.
Today also marks what would have been Jackie Robinson’s 100th birthday. In 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first black player in the most popular sport in America, and helped change the way the country thought about racial integration.
If is often said the ,Babe Ruth changed baseball , while Jackie Robinson changed America.
