Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has been taking a ton of heat over the past 24 hours (including from DCist) for bringing Confederate History Month back to the commonwealth but trying to pretend like that history didn’t prominently include slavery. And now it looks like all the criticism has made an impact: McDonnell issued a lengthy apology at the end of the day Wednesday, and added new language to his proclamation, so that it now acknowledges that “the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights.”

“The failure to include any reference to slavery was a mistake, and for that I apologize to any fellow Virginian who has been offended or disappointed,” McDonnell said.

The governor’s full statement is after the jump.