Then: March 2, 1861
To avoid war, Congress passes a constitutional amendment to protect slavery. Lincoln in his inaugural address says "I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable."
Now: July 29, 2008
146 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the United States House of Representatives passes a resolution apologizing for the "injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity" of slavery and Jim Crow laws.