Lincoln Signs the 13th Amendment [Deep Dive] - February 1st, 2026

[00:00] Michael Turner: Welcome to Deep Dive. I'm Michael Turner. [00:03] Evelyn Hartwell: And I'm Evelyn Hartwell. [00:04] Evelyn Hartwell: Today is February 1st, a date that serves as a powerful anchor for human rights and cultural transformation. [00:12] Michael Turner: Evelyn, we're starting with a moment that changed the course of American history. [00:17] Michael Turner: On this day in 1865, President Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. [00:24] Michael Turner: It was the definitive move to abolish slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. [00:30] Evelyn Hartwell: It was a watershed moment, Michael. [00:32] Evelyn Hartwell: While the Emancipation Proclamation had paved the way years earlier, [00:35] Evelyn Hartwell: it was the 13th Amendment that provided the permanent legal end to slavery as an institution. [00:41] Evelyn Hartwell: Lincoln signed it just months before the end of the Civil War and his own assassination. [00:45] Michael Turner: Right. The signature itself was largely symbolic, but necessary for the process. [00:52] Michael Turner: It wasn't actually ratified by the required number of states until December 6th of that year. [00:57] Michael Turner: But February 1st stands as the day the machinery of liberation was set into official motion. [01:04] Evelyn Hartwell: It essentially redefined the American social contract. [01:08] Evelyn Hartwell: Even with the exception for punishment for a crime, which has its own complex legacy, [01:13] Evelyn Hartwell: The primary goal was to dismantle a centuries-old system of human bondage. [01:18] Evelyn Hartwell: It is the bedrock upon which the subsequent civil rights amendments were built. [01:23] Michael Turner: It really highlights how institutional change requires both the force of war and the stroke of a pen. [01:30] Michael Turner: Moving from that monumental legislative shift, we see the ripple effects of liberty in the figures born on this day and later years. [01:39] Evelyn Hartwell: Exactly. [01:40] Evelyn Hartwell: One of the most resonant voices of the 20th century was born on this day in 1901, Lincolns and Hues. [01:46] Evelyn Hartwell: He became a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance, using his poetry and prose to capture the nuance of black life in America. [01:54] Michael Turner: Hughes had a way of making high art feel incredibly accessible. [01:59] Michael Turner: His work, like the Negro Speaks of Rivers, really grounded the African-American experience in a deep, historical sense of pride and resilience. [02:08] Michael Turner: He wasn't just a writer. He was a social activist who used his column in the Chicago Defender to advocate for equality. [02:17] Evelyn Hartwell: He lived through a period of immense change, and his writing helped bridge the gap between the era of the 13th Amendment and the modern civil rights movement. [02:27] Evelyn Hartwell: It is quite fitting that his birthday aligns with this historical milestone. [02:32] Michael Turner: While Hughes was shaping the literary world, another icon, born on the exact same day, February 1, 1901, [02:39] Michael Turner: was beginning a path toward the silver screen, Clark Gable, often called the King of Hollywood. [02:46] Evelyn Hartwell: Gable's impact on film culture was massive. [02:49] Evelyn Hartwell: He won an Oscar for It Happened One Night, but he's globally recognized for his role as Rett Duttler in Gone with the Wind. [02:57] Evelyn Hartwell: He personified the rugged, charismatic leading man of the Golden Age of cinema. [03:03] Michael Turner: He had that steady, reassuring presence that audiences gravitated toward, [03:08] Michael Turner: especially during the difficult years of the Great Depression. [03:11] Michael Turner: It is fascinating to think that two such different, yet equally influential American icons were born on the same day. [03:20] Evelyn Hartwell: Yeah, and the list of significant birthdays on February 1st doesn't stop in the arts. [03:25] Evelyn Hartwell: We also look to 1931, the birth year of Boris Yeltsin, a man whose political career was defined by one of the most volatile transitions in modern history. [03:36] Michael Turner: Yeltsin was the first president of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. [03:43] Michael Turner: He was the face of the post-Soviet era, overseeing the collapse of the USSR and the difficult, [03:50] Michael Turner: often chaotic shift toward a market economy and a new democratic framework. [03:55] Evelyn Hartwell: It was a period of immense instability, Michael. [03:59] Evelyn Hartwell: Yeltsin was a polarizing figure, but his defiance during the 1991 coup attempt remains a defining image of that era. [04:08] Evelyn Hartwell: He represented a total break from the old guard. [04:11] Evelyn Hartwell: much like the other innovators we've discussed today. [04:15] Michael Turner: From the politics of the state to the structure of our language, [04:19] Michael Turner: February 1st also marks a major intellectual milestone. [04:23] Michael Turner: In 1884, the very first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary was published. [04:30] Evelyn Hartwell: That's remarkable. This was the A to Ant volume. It is hard to fathom now, but at the time, there was no single authoritative record of the English language. [04:41] Evelyn Hartwell: This project was incredibly ambitious, aiming to document the history and evolution of every word. [04:49] Michael Turner: I read that they originally thought it would take about 10 years to complete the entire dictionary. [04:54] Michael Turner: Instead, the final volume wasn't published until 1928. [04:58] Michael Turner: That's 44 years of meticulous research and editing. [05:02] Evelyn Hartwell: The scale of it is what makes it a deep dive in the truest sense. [05:07] Evelyn Hartwell: It changed how we understand communication and linguistics. [05:10] Evelyn Hartwell: By standardizing definitions while acknowledging historical usage, it became the global gold standard for the English language. [05:19] Michael Turner: Mm-hmm. It is a testament to the idea that some of the most important human endeavors require a lifetime of patience and precision. [05:29] Evelyn Hartwell: A perfect summary, Michael. [05:31] Evelyn Hartwell: From legal liberation and literary genius to the very words we use to describe them, [05:37] Evelyn Hartwell: February 1st is a day where history truly speaks. [05:40] Michael Turner: Thanks for joining us today. [05:42] Michael Turner: I'm Michael Turner. [05:43] Evelyn Hartwell: And I'm Evelyn Hartwell. [05:44] Evelyn Hartwell: You can find more at deepdive.neuralnewscast.com. [05:48] Evelyn Hartwell: We'll see you next time. [05:50] Evelyn Hartwell: Deepdive is AI-assisted, human-reviewed. [05:53] Evelyn Hartwell: Explore history every day on Neural Newscast.