Learn what happened on this day when you sign up for The Today, our daily newsletter.
Dec. 6, 1865
Courtesy: Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana.
The state of Georgia provided the final vote needed for the 13th Amendment to become part of the U.S. Constitution, abolishing slavery: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Two days before, Mississippi lawmakers had rejected ratification. In 1995, the Mississippi Legislature, trying to rectify the historic mistake, voted to ratify the anti-slavery amendment. Because of a paperwork snafu, the vote didn’t become official until 2013.
Unless otherwise noted, you can republish most of Mississippi Today’s stories for free under a Creative Commons license.
For digital publications:
Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
For print publications:
You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Michael Guidry for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
If you have any other questions, contact Audience Development Director Lauchlin Fields.
On this day in 1865
by Jerry Mitchell, Mississippi Today December 6, 2024
The stories of investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell have helped put four Klansmen and a serial killer behind bars. His stories have also helped free two people from death row, exposed injustices and corruption, prompting investigations and reforms as well as the firings of boards and officials. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, a longtime member of Investigative Reporters & Editors, and a winner of more than 30 other national awards, including a $500,000 MacArthur “genius” grant. After working for three decades for the statewide Clarion-Ledger, Mitchell left in 2019 and founded the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.