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13th Amendment | What is the Thirteenth Amendment?

The Thirteenth Amendment in the Constitution is the first of three Reconstruction amendments abolishing slavery except as a punishment for crime.

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Thirteenth Amendment

Section 1. 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. Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

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What is the 13th Amendment?

The 13th Amendment, not Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, put an end to slavery in the United States

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Did the 13th Amendment End Slavery?

The 13th Amendment officially ended slavery in the United States and was the first of three amendments to attempt to reunite the Union after the Civil War while also securing the rights of recently freed enslaved people.

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What did the Emancipation Proclamation Do?

The Emancipation Proclamation "freed" enslaved people in Confederate states. It led to Lincoln's desire for an official 13th Amendment to abolish slavery permanently.

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Reconstruction Amendments

The Reconstruction Amendments are comprised of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. They were ratified during the era of Reconstruction and were an attempt to both unify the Union after Civil War and protect the freedoms of African Americans after the war.

The 13th Amendment

The 13th Amendment ended slavery in the United States except as a punishment for crime.

The 14th Amendment

The 14th Amendments grants all people born or naturalized in the United States citizenship.

The 15th Amendment

The 15th Amendment protects the right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. It excludes gender or sex.

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