The 13Th Amendment: Outlawing Slavery In America

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on December 6, 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude across the United States and its territories. The amendment, which was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and certified on December 18, 1865, states that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States. This amendment was the first of three Reconstruction Amendments following the American Civil War and was a significant step towards expanding civil rights for Americans.

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The 13th Amendment

> "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

The road to the 13th Amendment began with President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, which declared that enslaved people in Confederate-controlled areas were free. However, the Proclamation did not end slavery nationwide as it only applied to areas of the Confederacy in rebellion and not to the border states that remained in the Union. Lincoln recognised that a constitutional amendment was necessary to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.

The Emancipation Proclamation

On January 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring:

> [A]ll persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.

The proclamation changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the secessionist Confederate states from enslaved to free. It applied only to states that had seceded from the United States, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Northern control.

The Proclamation also allowed former slaves to join the Union Army and Navy, enabling the liberated to become liberators. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 Black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union and freedom.

Despite its expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the United States. Lincoln recognized that it would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment to guarantee the abolishment of slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment, passed at the end of the Civil War, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, and by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865. It was ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on December 6, 1865.

The Reconstruction Amendments

The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude across the United States and its territories, except as punishment for a crime. It was the first of the Reconstruction Amendments and the culmination of President Lincoln's efforts to end slavery, which included his Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. The Thirteenth Amendment was passed by the Senate in April 1864 and by the House of Representatives in January 1865, before being ratified by the required number of states in December 1865.

The Fourteenth Amendment, proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868, addresses citizenship rights and equal protection under the law for all persons. It transformed the Constitution by shifting the focus from federal-state relations and property rights to the protection of vulnerable minorities and their claim to substantive freedom. Thaddeus Stevens, the Republican floor leader in the House of Representatives, was a key advocate for the Fourteenth Amendment, reflecting his lifelong struggle against slavery and for equal rights for African Americans.

The Fifteenth Amendment, ratified in 1870, prohibits federal and state governments from denying a citizen's right to vote based on race, colour, or previous condition of servitude. This amendment was a response to the erosion of voting rights for African Americans in the late 1860s and ensured that black men's right to vote was protected.

While the Reconstruction Amendments were significant milestones in the struggle for equality and civil rights, their promises were not fully realized until the mid-20th century due to state laws and federal court decisions that undermined their impact. It was not until the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, along with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that the full benefits of these amendments were achieved.

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The Fugitive Slave Clause

The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed and ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and prohibited the practice of involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. This amendment was a pivotal moment in American history, as it legally ended the institution of slavery that had been prevalent since the country's founding. Among the various provisions and clauses related to slavery in the Constitution prior to this amendment was the Fugitive Slave Clause.

"No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due."

In simpler terms, this clause stated that if a person who was legally a slave in one state fled to another state, they could be legally claimed and returned to their owner. This clause was designed to protect the property rights of slave owners and prevent states from interfering with the capture and return of fugitive slaves. It also reflected the compromise between northern and southern states during the Constitutional Convention, as it acknowledged slavery without explicitly using the word.

However, the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Clause was not without its challenges and controversies. Over time, it became a source of tension between free states and slave states, and it played a role in shaping the debate around slavery in the lead-up to the Civil War. The clause also spurred resistance and abolitionist efforts, with some free states passing personal liberty laws that conflicted with the clause and made it harder to enforce.

Abraham Lincoln's role

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States and its territories. This amendment was the culmination of a long process that began with President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, which declared that enslaved people in Confederate-controlled areas were free. Lincoln played a crucial role in the passage and ratification of the 13th Amendment, which permanently enshrined the abolition of slavery in the US Constitution.

Lincoln's role in ending slavery began with the Emancipation Proclamation, issued on September 22, 1862, and effective on January 1, 1863. The proclamation declared that all persons held as slaves in states that were in rebellion against the Union "shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free." While this proclamation freed approximately three million slaves, it only applied to Confederate-controlled areas and did not end slavery nationwide. Lincoln recognized that a constitutional amendment was necessary to guarantee the permanent abolition of slavery.

Lincoln took an active role in ensuring the passage of the 13th Amendment through Congress. After the Senate passed the amendment in April 1864, the House of Representatives initially failed to pass it. Lincoln worked to ensure that the amendment was added to the Republican Party platform for the 1864 presidential election. He urged Congress to send the amendment to the states for ratification, saying, "may we not agree that the sooner the better?" Lincoln's administration engaged in extensive legislative maneuvering, and he instructed his Secretary of State, William H. Seward, to procure votes by any means necessary.

Lincoln personally signed the joint resolution for the 13th Amendment, despite not being legally required to do so. This gesture signalled the importance he placed on the amendment. On February 1, 1865, Lincoln approved the submission of the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. By the time of Lincoln's assassination on April 14, 1865, 19 states had ratified the amendment. On December 6, 1865, Georgia became the 27th state to ratify, achieving the required three-fourths majority. The 13th Amendment was officially certified and adopted into the Constitution on December 18, 1865, marking the end of legal slavery in the United States.

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