![Art & History](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090826084757im_/http://clerk.house.gov/images/headers/a_highlightsheader.jpg)
Subjects – Slavery
Representative James Henry Hammond of South Carolina
February 01, 1836
Representative James Henry Hammond of South Carolina, delivered the first defense in Congress of the institution of slavery when he spoke to explain his motion that antislavery petitions “be not received,” by the House.
The House of Representatives instituted the “gag rule”
May 18, 1836
On this date, during the 24th Congress (1835–1837), the House of Representatives instituted the “gag rule.”
A motion to censure Representative John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts
February 07, 1842
On this date, the House voted 106 to 93 to table a motion censuring Representative John Quincy Adams of Massachusetts for antislavery agitation.
The admission of California into the Union
September 07, 1850
On this date, the bill admitting California as a free state into the Union passed the House by a vote of 150 to 56.
The Opening of the 34th Congress
December 03, 1855
On this date, Representatives badly divided over the slavery issue convened in the Old House Chamber (present-day Statuary Hall) to commence the 34th Congress (1855–1857).
A bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia
April 11, 1862
On this date, the House approved a bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia by a vote of 92 to 38.
An 1862 House measure to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia
April 11, 1862
Radical Republicans under the direction of Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania rammed a measure through the House that abolished the practice of slavery in the District of Columbia.
The 13th Amendment
January 31, 1865
On this date, the House passed the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery in the United States.
The first African American to speak in the House Chamber
February 12, 1865
On this date, Preacher Henry Highland Garnet became the first African American to speak in the House Chamber when he addressed a crowd of worshippers.
Representative Robert Smalls of South Carolina
February 22, 1915
On this date, Representative Robert Smalls of South Carolina died of natural causes in his hometown of Beaufort.