Ratified on December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment (the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments) abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. Unlike most of the Constitution, this amendment not only restricts governments but also private individuals.
Amendment XIII
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.
Section 1 prohibits slavery and forced labor everywhere that is subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. But forced work is allowed when it is used as punishment for a crime. Notably, this section nullified two provisions in the original Constitution: Article IV’s Fugitive Slave Clause and Article I’s Three-Fifths Clause.
Section 2 gives Congress the legal power to pass laws that ensure the ban on slavery is actually followed. This part was especially important during its drafting because the Reconstruction Congress believed the Southern states would use alternative means to try to reinstate enslavement and the post-war racial hierarchy.
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