On what date was the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ratified?

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on December 6, 1865.

The amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude throughout the United States, except as punishment for a crime after conviction. Congress passed it during the Civil War era: the Senate approved it on April 8, 1864, and the House approved it on January 31, 1865, after an earlier House attempt had failed.

Ratification required approval from three-fourths of the states. Georgia became the twenty-seventh state to ratify, providing the necessary threshold among the thirty-six states then in the Union. Secretary of State William H. Seward formally proclaimed the amendment part of the Constitution on December 18, 1865.

The amendment is distinct from the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Abraham Lincoln issued in 1863 and applied primarily to areas in rebellion. The Thirteenth Amendment made abolition a nationwide constitutional rule.