That was impossible without at least some of the former Confederate states joining in this ratification.

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The amendment's framers clearly figured that enforcement would focus on the former Confederate states, Mr. Verrilli said.

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In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation formally freeing all slaves in the Confederate States.

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The Census survey found on average slightly higher reports of voting among African-American voters than among whites in former Confederate states, 67% to 62%.

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When it went into effect on January 1, 1863 -- 100 days later -- the Proclamation freed all those held as slaves in the Confederate states.

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And if so, is it not time for historians to take a more charitable view of a group who tried precisely that but failed heroically: the Confederate states of America?

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When Confederate batteries fired on Fort Sumter and forced its surrender, he called on the states for 75, 000 volunteers.

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