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The Thirteenth Amendment
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
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.
 

 

 

10 Facts About the 13th Amendment

1.  After the decisive battle of Antietam in September, 1862, when the Union beat the Confederate troops, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves in the rebelling states were free as of January 1, 1863. Lincoln's speech changed the tone of the Civil War from a battle about the rights of states versus the rights of the central government. The Civil War became about ending slavery once and for all. Lincoln realized that the Emancipation Proclamation was symbolic. He began lobbying Congress to amend the U.S. Constitution to end slavery.

2.  The Senate passed the amendment in April, 1864.

3.  The Civil War ended in April, 1865. Some in Congress insisted on including provisions to prevent discrimination against former slaves, but that language never made it to final drafts. The Republican platform in Congress called for the complete destruction of slavery. Congressional Democrats favored restoration of states' rights, including the possibility of states retaining the right to keep slavery. The House of Representatives debated different versions but did not immediately pass an amendment. President Lincoln added passage to the Republican Party platform for the 1864 elections.
4.  After Lincoln's second inaugural in January, 1865, the House of Representatives passed the amendment.

5.  The Senate Judiciary Committee drafted the final language for the 13th Amendment. The language of amendment is simple. It is written in two sections.
6.  Section 1 of the amendment states clearly that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist in the United States. Section 2 states that Congress has the authority to enforce the article through legislation.

7. The language was borrowed from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 that had banned slavery north of the Ohio River. The Northwest Territory later became the states of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin.
8.  Eighteen of the 27 states of the Union ratified the amendment in February, 1865, the first month after its passage by the Congress. An amendment to the U.S. Constitution must be ratified by three-fourths of the states.
9.  The first to ratify the 13th Amendment was Illinois, on February 1, a symbolic gesture given that President Abraham Lincoln was from Illinois. Between March and July of that year five more states ratified. The last four states to ratify did so in November and December.
10.  Georgia was the last state to ratify, on December 6, 1865.

 

The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Discover and learn about the important 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution! 

Antietam Battle and the Emancipation Proclamation leads to the 13th Amendment
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