They ratified it in the sense that the Mafia gives someone a deal they can't refuse. They ratified it at the point of union guns. Our legal system doesn't believe in coercion or duress unless it comes from the very top, then they are all in favor of it.
Does anyone really believe that those Southern states actually ratified the 13th amendment of their own free will? If so, I have a bridge in San Fransisco that i'd like to sell you.
Does anyone really believe that those Southern states actually ratified the 13th amendment of their own free will? If so, I have a bridge in San Fransisco that i’d like to sell you.
Well, to the extent that ratification was per accidens a necessary means for attaining an end that they wanted, it still qualifies as an act of free will, but a very good argument could be made that the coercion ought to render the action null and void.
That said, the poster to whom I was responding claimed that the 13th was ratified entirely by the “O so Virtuous” non-Southern states. At least half of the six that did not ratify had actually rejected, and my point was that the amendment only “passed” on the strength of Southern participation, be it coerced or otherwise.