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13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865)
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General SummaryThe 13th amendment, 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."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.The 13th amendment was passed at the end of the Civil War before the Southern states had been restored to the Union and should have easily passed the Congress. Although the Senate passed it in April 1864, the House did not. At that point, Lincoln took an active role to ensure passage through congress. He insisted that passage of the 13th amendment be added to the Republican Party platform for the upcoming Presidential elections. His efforts met with success when the House passed the bill in January 1865 with a vote of 119 56.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.
Biographical SummaryNational History Day, National Archives and Records Administration, and USA Freedom Corps developed the 100 Milestone Documents of U.S. History project as presented at http://www.OurDocuments.gov. This replication of the documents of that site grants users full-search access to this essential collection.
13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865)
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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.
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.
Chicago: 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865) in The House Joint Resolution Proposing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, March 2, 1861; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789-1999; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives. Original Sources, accessed December 3, 2024, http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=MEHY6RZ2U6UW26P.
MLA: . 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865), in The House Joint Resolution Proposing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, March 2, 1861; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789-1999; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives., Original Sources. 3 Dec. 2024. http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=MEHY6RZ2U6UW26P.
Harvard: , 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865). cited in , The House Joint Resolution Proposing the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, March 2, 1861; Enrolled Acts and Resolutions of Congress, 1789-1999; General Records of the United States Government; Record Group 11; National Archives.. Original Sources, retrieved 3 December 2024, from http://originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=MEHY6RZ2U6UW26P.
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