Ratification of the 13th Amendment

Abraham Lincoln had many difficulties when ratifying the 13th amendment. The movement to abolish slavery was and still is one of the most controversial topics in history. Many of the difficulties in the movement included: a resistant political cabinet, getting 20 democrats to change their vote, and most importantly, racism. Racism was the number one issue with the proposal and ratification of the amendment. Predominately in the south, the nation did not want the amendment to pass because many felt that with the ratification of the amendment, that blacks would then receive all of the same abilities and rights that white had such as voting, owning property, holding and taking office in congress, and having a high rank in the military. Many were also fearful of intermarriages.
When Lincoln was proposing the amendment, his cabinet was very resistant of helping him. They did not believe that the amendment was going to directly end the war and they were wary of what the south would do if it passed. Many congressional members did not want to vote for it because they thought that they would "be shot dead". Because of these difficulties, Lincoln had to use his implied powers to reconstruct the people's and congresses outlook on the bill.


Lincoln needed the amendment to pass and he did anything and everything he could to make sure that it did. He used him implied powers on congress to have it passed, though most of them were not ethical. In the final hours of the hearing, Lincoln falsely signed a document that said he had not known of any peace commissioners left, however, he directly knew of one living in Richmond, Virginia. This act could have led to an impeachment and trial of treason of it had gotten out to the public, but Lincoln took the risk. Lincoln twisted the truth in other situations as well to persuade people to vote for the amendment. He offered jobs to lame duck politicians in exchange for their vote so when they were not up for reelection, they would still be employed.
When Lincoln passed the emancipation proclamation, it was not embedded into the constitution, and therefor was not guaranteed to remain after his presidency; with the ratification of the 13th amendment, it would be. Without changing the constitution, the emancipation proclamation could be rescinded and the war on slavery would not have ended. Abraham Lincoln believed this amendment needed to pass to end the war and to have equality throughout America.

Petoria

   When Peter Griffin tries to receive a tax refund and realizes that he is ineligible because his house is not officially apart of his town, he decides to succeed from the United States to form his own independent nation. He creates a dictatorship called Petoria which is run by Peter Griffin himself. In this new nation he grants himself diplomatic immunity so he is able to do whatever he wants without being incriminated. Peter steals his neighbor's pool, runs of grass that is not suppose to be touched, and does not have to abide by any rules. He is allowed to live how he wants and makes his own decisions.

  Eventually, the United States does not want to recognize Petoria as its own independent nation and begins to make laws against it. The US does not allow Peter's family to go to school, go grocery shopping, shuts off their water and shuts off their electricity. When a missile is presented in front of his home, and Petoria had been struggling for weeks, Peter is forced to surrender to the United States. Without an army, Petoria has no defense and quickly recalls the nation. 

Ratifying the Constitution

     When the Constitution was being drafted, nine of the thirteen states needed to approve it. The later ratification became especially hard because of this. Nine out of thirteen states needed to advocate for this change and reject a reformation of the Articles of Confederation.
     There were many issues that paused the advancement of the Constitution. The fore-fathers that were constructing the constitution were all from Philadelphia and were considered to be the "well-born few." People thought that if those were the ones to draft the constitution, then it would only represent and protect the high upper-class. Another objection was that the Constitution would give "too much power" to the central government and that we were not be able to control it.

     The ratification debate that occurred in Virginia made one of the most important counterparts. The new Constitution failed to contain a Bill of Rights. During the debate, James Madison argued that a Bill of Rights was necessary. When a Bill of Rights was finally assured that it was to be embedded into a constitution, Virgin approved it and the Constitution was then ratified.