Two months before the end of the Civil War, on February 8, 1865, Delaware voted to reject the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution and so voted to continue slavery beyond the Civil War. The gesture proved futile when other states ratified the amendment, which took effect in December 1865 and thereby ended slavery in Delaware. In a symbolic move, Delaware belatedly ratified the amendment on February 12, 1901 – 35 years after national ratification and 38 years after Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Delaware also rejected the 14th Amendment and 15th Amendment during the Reconstruction Era.