When South Carolina ratified the Amendment in November 1865, it issued its own interpretive declaration that "any attempt by Congress toward legislating upon the political status of former slaves, or their civil relations, would be contrary to the Constitution of the United States." Alabama and Louisiana also declared that their ratification did not imply federal power to legislate on the status of former slaves. During the first week of December, North Carolina and Georgia gave the amendment the final votes needed for it to become part of the Constitution. The first 27 states to ratify the Amendment were: Illinois: February 1, 1865 Rhode Island: February 2, 1865 Michigan: February 3, 1865 Maryland: February 3, 1865 New York: February 3, 1865 Pennsylvania: February 3, 1865 West Virginia: February 3, 1865 Missouri: February 6, 1865 Maine: February 7, 1865 Kansas: February 7, 1865 Massachusetts: February 7, 1865 Virginia: February 9, 1865 Ohio: February 10, 1865 Indiana: February 13, 1865 Nevada: February 16, 1865 Louisiana: February 17, 1865 Minnesota: February 23, 1865 Wisconsin: February 24, 1865 Vermont: March 9, 1865 Tennessee: April 7, 1865 Arkansas: April 14, 1865 Connecticut: May 4, 1865 New Hampshire: July 1, 1865 South Carolina: November 13, 1865 Alabama: December 2, 1865 North Carolina: December 4, 1865 Georgia: December 6, 1865 Having been ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states (27 of the 36 states, including those that had been in rebellion), Secretary of State Seward, on December 18, 1865, certified that the Thirteenth Amendment had become valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the Constitution. Included on the enrolled list of ratifying states were the three ex-Confederate states that had given their assent, but with strings attached. Seward accepted their affirmative votes and brushed aside their interpretive declarations without comment, challenge or acknowledgment. The Thirteenth Amendment was subsequently ratified by the other states, as follows: Effects Freeing slaves The immediate impact of the amendment was to make the entire pre-war system of chattel slavery in the U.S. illegal. The impact of the abolition of slavery was felt quickly. When the Thirteenth Amendment became operational, the scope of Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation was widened to include the entire nation. Although the majority of Kentucky's slaves had been emancipated, 65,000–100,000 people remained to be legally freed when the amendment went into effect on December 18. In Delaware, where a large number of slaves had escaped