The 13th Amendment
The Abolition of Slavery in the United States
The 13th Amendment and Background
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.”
(https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xiii)
“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.”
(https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendment/amendment-xiii)
13th Amendment and Freedom
The Emancipation Proclamation and proceeding 13th Amendment can be described by Angela Davis as being a, "constrained emancipation." One that lacked definition and led to a lifetime of disguised enslavement. Angela Davis, a prison abolitionist, notes the presence of slavery in our modern day prison systems and argues that being a criminal is a "life sentence" and it's an endless cycle of imprisonment. The clause in both section 1 and 2, "except as a punishment for crime," and “Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation” give the power for slavery to exist "constitutionally" within the United States.
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So what is allowed under the Constitution and added 13th Amendment?
- It allows forced labor to those who have committed a crime (prison labor practices)
- The U.S. government can require forms of public service such as jury duty and service in the military
- Under interpretation of section 2, the U.S. Congress is allowed to pass laws eliminating, "badges and incidents of slavery" ("Interpretation: The Thirteenth Amendment | The National Constitution Center", 2021).
What does this all mean?
Although the 13th Amendment is about ending slavery in the United States, there are certain stipulations, exceptions really, to this law. The 13th Amendment indirectly states that imprisonment is a form of slavery by using it as an exception to a law that makes slavery and involuntary servitude illegal. With this stipulation, as well as the ones excluding mandatory military service and jury duty not all forms of slavery have been abolished in the United States.
Although the 13th Amendment is about ending slavery in the United States, there are certain stipulations, exceptions really, to this law. The 13th Amendment indirectly states that imprisonment is a form of slavery by using it as an exception to a law that makes slavery and involuntary servitude illegal. With this stipulation, as well as the ones excluding mandatory military service and jury duty not all forms of slavery have been abolished in the United States.