CASHING IN ON SLAVERY
NEWS COPY - WITH PICTURES - by Adrian Hearn
A rare copy of the
SIGNED 13TH AMENDMENT WHICH ABOLISHED SLAVERY TO SELL FOR £2 MILLION which abolished slavery in the USA is to be sold next week for more than £2 MILLION.
The amendment, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, is regarded as one of the most important documents in American history.
Lincoln signed it on February 1, 1865 and declared the amendment as "a king's cure for all the evils".
The original historic document, which was held by the senate, is one of just 13 signed by the President, his Vice President, Speaker of the House Colfax and 36 senators.
It is one of a pair of extremely rare and important anti-slavery documents to be sold by Sotheby's next week.
The other is a copy of The Emancipation Proclamation, dated January 1, 1863, which freed all slaves in areas still under Confederate control.
When Abraham signed the document, which freed as many as 50,000 people, he transformed the mission of the Civil War, from one of the restoration of the Union to one of liberation of all.
The copy being auctioned was signed by Lincoln to support the union cause and was originally sold for $10.
It is now one of just 27 known to have survived, 19 of which are in institutions.
Both items are owned by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which was set up in 1991 to create one of the most important repositories of American history documents.
The not-for-profit group is selling the documents to raise fund to increase its library or resources.
The signed 13th Amendment has been valued at £2 million while the copy of The Emancipation Proclamation is expected to sell for £1.35 million at the Sotheby's sale in New York on May 25.
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