The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution abolished slavery after the Civil War
In order to build a barrier against slavery or the possibility of slavery after the Civil War, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed and ratified on December 6, 1865.
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- Paul G. Summers, an attorney, is a former appellate and chief judge, district attorney, and attorney general of Tennessee.
Editor’s Note: This is a periodic feature on topics related to the Constitution and civic education, written by Paul G. Summers, retired judge and attorney general.
The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime of which the defendant was convicted. Congress was given the power to enforce the amendment by appropriate legislation.
Amendment 13, ratified in 1865, is clear in its wording:
Section 1. Slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the person shall have been duly convicted, shall not exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate laws.
The 13th Change followed the Emancipation Proclamation
Slavery and forced labor were practiced in countries all over the world. America fought a civil war in which slavery was at the forefront. But our United States had a plan after the Civil War in the 13th Amendment. Slavery was to be abolished forever, at least in the United States.
After the Civil War, which ended in 1865, three Reconstruction Amendments were passed and ratified.
The Thirteenth Amendment is the one least cited by the judiciary in case law. The other two Reconstruction Amendments are the Fourteenth and Fifteenth. The Thirteenth Amendment is important because of its simplicity: slavery in any form for free persons was abolished. Convicted prisoners were of course exempt from this.
President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation, effective January 1, 1863. America was approaching the third year of the Civil War. Slaves in Confederate-controlled states were freed as soon as they fled or immigrated to Union territory. With the stroke of a pen, President Lincoln freed some 3.4 million slaves in secessionist states. The Thirteenth Amendment was invoked in cases involving ending some forms of “characteristics or incidents of slavery.”
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The amendment is intended to combat what we today consider to be modern forms of slavery, such as sex trafficking, serfdom or aggravated child abduction.
After the Civil War, the United States abolished slavery nationwide
The Emancipation Proclamation freed millions of slaves. But the status of these former and newly freed slaves after the war was disputed. To create a barrier against slavery or the possibility of slavery, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed and ratified on December 6, 1865. After ratification, the debate was moot. Slavery was completely abolished in the United States of America.
We will continue our examination of the Constitution in the next article on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which was ratified by the states in 1868.
Reading and studying the Constitution is a good investment. Please remember that all opinions and interpretations of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are those of the author. The author and this publication welcome your comments, whether you agree or disagree. We only ask that each commenter remain civil in their criticism.
Paul G. Summers, an attorney, is a former appellate and chief justice, district attorney, and attorney general of Tennessee. Judge Summers grew up in Fayette County and lives in Nashville and Holladay.
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