Episode 2 of 4

Lincoln's Enabling Act

When: Dec 31, 1862
Where: Washington, D.C.
Part of: West Virginia admitted as 35th U.S. state

President Lincoln approved an enabling act in December 1862 requiring gradual abolition of slavery.

On December 31, 1862, President Lincoln approved an enabling act admitting West Virginia on the condition that a provision for the gradual abolition of slavery be inserted in its constitution. This condition was met when the convention reconvened in February 1863.

Sources

West Virginia Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.