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'''Thirteenth Amendment''' to the [[U.S. Constitution]], which formally abolished slavery in the [[United States]], passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House on January 31, 1865. On February 1, 1865, President [[Abraham Lincoln]] approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. The necessary number of states ratified it by December 6, 1865. The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution provides 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, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."''

'''Thirteenth Amendment''' to the [[U.S. Constitution]], which formally abolished slavery in the [[United States]], passed the Senate on April 8, 1864, and the House on January 31, 1865. On February 1, 1865, President [[Abraham Lincoln]] approved the Joint Resolution of Congress submitting the proposed amendment to the state legislatures. The necessary number of states ratified it by December 6, 1865.

In 1863 President Lincoln had issued the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] declaring ''“all 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.”'' Nonetheless, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation. Lincoln recognized that the Emancipation Proclamation would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment in order to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.  

In 1863 President Lincoln had issued the [[Emancipation Proclamation]] declaring ''“all 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.”'' Nonetheless, the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation. Lincoln recognized that the Emancipation Proclamation would have to be followed by a constitutional amendment in order to guarantee the abolishment of slavery.  

With the adoption of the 13th amendment, the United States found a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery. The 13th amendment, along with the 14th and 15th, is one of the trio of Civil War amendments that greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans.

With the adoption of the 13th amendment, the United States found a final constitutional solution to the issue of slavery. The 13th amendment, along with the 14th and 15th, is one of the trio of Civil War amendments that greatly expanded the civil rights of Americans.

==Text of the 13th Amendment==

==Ratification==

The Thirteenth Amendment was officially ratified on December 6, 1865, 309 days after Congress had proposed it [http://www.usconstitution.net/constamrat.html#Am13]. Many Southern states ratified it only because Congress had made ratification an official condition of their [[Reconstruction|readmission to the Union]] after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

 

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.

 

   

   

New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky ratified this amendment after initially rejecting it.  Kentucky did not ratify this amendment until 1976, in a symbolic gesture.

New Jersey, Delaware and Kentucky ratified this amendment after initially rejecting it.  Kentucky did not ratify this amendment until 1976, in a symbolic gesture.

Mississippi rejected this amendment and never ratified it, but is bound by it because it had been ratified by three-quarters of the states.

The only immediate effect was to abolish [[slavery]] in the few states where it had not already been abolished.  It has subsequently been raised several times in the [[Supreme Court]]:

* In [[Bailey v. Alabama]], the Supreme Court ruled that the Thirteenth Amendment prohibited laws that indirectly, through presumptions of evidence, compel labor.

* In [[United States v. Kozminski]], the Supreme Court prohibited psychological coercion to compel labor.

 

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{{US amendments}}

{{US amendments}}