[Manuscript] Passage of Wilson's Bill … to make free the wives and children of colored soldiers has passed the senate
![[Manuscript] Passage of Wilson's Bill … to make fr](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/428/521/1702521428.0.x.jpg)
- SIGNED
- [Washington, D.C.] , 1865
[Washington, D.C.], 1865. Very good, two repaired tears along bottom edge, light soiling and ink staining, contents clean.. 1 sheet. 8 x 10 inches. Unsigned and undated notification of the passage of Senator Henry Wilson's first civil rights bill of the Reconstruction Era. "Senator Wilson's bill to make free the wives and children of colonial soldiers has just passed the Senate by a vote of 27 to 10. It is estimated that the bill will immediately make free in Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri, from 75,000 to 100,000 women and children."
Abolitionist Henry Wilson (1812-1875), author of the three volume History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in the America, served as President of the Massachusetts Senate (1851-1852); US Senator from Massachusetts (1855-1873); Chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee (1861-1873); and Vice President under Grant (1873-1875).
Wilson introduced a series of Civil War era bills and measures, which served as a precursor to the Thirteenth Amendment. First among these was a bill that abolished slavery in Washington DC., which was passed in 1862. Later that year, Wilson furthered his effort and drafted a bill that allowed African Americans to be compensated for military-related labor. In 1864, following the Emancipation Proclamation and the Enrollment Act, Wilson secured freedom for former slaves who served in the Union Army, and advocated for them to receive equal military compensation. In 1865, Wilson initiated a bill to free the families of former slaves serving in the Union Army, who lived in the Union's remaining slave-holding states. "President Lincoln signed the measure into law on March 3, 1865, and an estimated 75,000 African American women and children were freed in Kentucky alone."
Abolitionist Henry Wilson (1812-1875), author of the three volume History of the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in the America, served as President of the Massachusetts Senate (1851-1852); US Senator from Massachusetts (1855-1873); Chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee (1861-1873); and Vice President under Grant (1873-1875).
Wilson introduced a series of Civil War era bills and measures, which served as a precursor to the Thirteenth Amendment. First among these was a bill that abolished slavery in Washington DC., which was passed in 1862. Later that year, Wilson furthered his effort and drafted a bill that allowed African Americans to be compensated for military-related labor. In 1864, following the Emancipation Proclamation and the Enrollment Act, Wilson secured freedom for former slaves who served in the Union Army, and advocated for them to receive equal military compensation. In 1865, Wilson initiated a bill to free the families of former slaves serving in the Union Army, who lived in the Union's remaining slave-holding states. "President Lincoln signed the measure into law on March 3, 1865, and an estimated 75,000 African American women and children were freed in Kentucky alone."