Introduction
After the civil war, the United States Constitution passed the 13th amendment in America. Slavery and involuntary servitude, apart from punishment for an offense, were abolished by this amendment. Congress passed the Amendment on January 13, 1865, and the needed 27 of the 36 states confirmed it on December 18, 1865. Following the American civil war, it was the first of three reformation amendments to be passed. The thirteenth amendment, unlike other modifications, was hardly mentioned in case law. Despite this fact, it continually knocked down some race-based discrimination practices and peonage as badges of slavery. The relevance, policies, and events surrounding the passage of the 13th amendment in the United States will be the topic of this thesis.
13th Amendment contribution to Modern America
While most other constitutional clauses explained what the government could and could not do, the 13th amendment proved unique because it impacted everyone in America. The period of this amendment was the first time in the US constitution that there was mention of slavery practice. In addition to enslavement, the amendment led to the prohibition of various forms of involuntary servitude, such as peonage, which entailed forcing someone to work without regard for their working circumstances to pay off debt.
The amendment, however, did not prevent Americans convicted of any crime from being forced to work. As a result, modern prison labor techniques, such as chain gangs and prison laundries, did not violate the 13th amendment (Lemieux & Watkins, 2017). This amendment also helped the US government impose public service requirements, possibly expanding to military service and draft. Overall, life for African-Americans was difficult before the passage of the 13th amendment.
Every day, they were tortured, beaten, sold, and sometimes even killed. Approximately four million slaves were liberated and given the same rights as any other person in the world due to the 13th amendment. Abolishment of this kind of torture yielded Courtesy of the 13th amendment, and many Americans’ constitutional perspectives, such as African slavery, did not function afterward.
Even after the 13th amendment outlawed slavery, racial discrimination such as the post-reconstruction black codes and state-sanctioned labor practices continued in the modern United States. These labor practices included convict leasing, which forced many black Americans into involuntary labor for years. Since its inception, the 13th amendment outlawed peonage—a system in which employers could force laborers to repay debts with work and other racially discriminatory practices by referring to them as incidents of slavery. In addition, the amendment also gave Congress the authority to pass legislation prohibiting modern forms of slavery, such as human trafficking.
Despite the amendment’s efforts to attain equality for African-Americans, equality and a guarantee of civil rights for all Americans, irrespective of race, were still fought for in America. Finally, while assessing the scope of Congress’s ability to enforce the thirteenth amendment, the modern American court took a very respectful approach. The Section 2 power of Congress extended to abolishing the acts of slavery, using language expressive of the disputes over the enforcement power of the thirteenth amendment.
Race-Conscious Policy during the 13th Amendment Passing
When Blacks were no longer valid as a source of property or services, there was a widespread desire for them to disappear. These attitudes were an often-overlooked aspect of slavery’s history, which Congress confronted through its Section two enforcement authority (Harrichand et al., 2021). Even in the absence of such laws, race-conscious policies aimed at repairing systemic empathy deficits towards minorities. These policies were considered a ‘relic’ of slavery and aimed at establishing a compelled state interest. This compelling government interest did not need subjection to Equal Protection’s most strict race-neutral requirements. Unlike the commerce authority, slavery was a race-conscious institution in America. Generally, for the United States government to deconstruct a race-conscious institution, it had to recognize race issues.
Genesis 1 is an example of a significant biblical study that also supported ethnicity and race. This book did not begin with forming a particular or favored race of people. When the first human being was born, he was named Adam, a Hebrew name meaning humankind. However, Adam and Eve were not Hebrews nor Egyptians, nor were they White, Black, or Semitic in any way (New King James Bible. Gen.1). This book did not state their race; instead, it emphasized that they were the mother and father of all peoples of all nationalities. In addition, as previously stated, Adam and Eve were regarded as ethnically generic, representing people of all races. As a result, this book declared that all persons of all races and nationalities represented the image of God.
Events and People in the 13th Amendment Period
The constitution finally authorized the 13th amendment on January 31, 1865. President Lincoln signed the paper as a representative gesture of ratification, even though it was unnecessary, and then presented it to the states for approval. This consent appeared to be an unavoidable conclusion at first by the end of the month. During this time, the amendment had already received a majority of state votes. Gradually, the process slowed, and by April 14, 1865, after the murder of President Abraham Lincoln, only 21 states had signed. Vice President Andrew Johnson, a War Democrat from Tennessee, emerged from nowhere at the White House (Fodor, 2021). Johnson was a dedicated supporter of the Union, but he was less concerned about abolishing slavery.
The plan at this time was to give a substantial amount of help that would hasten the abolition of slavery. When Johnson utilized his power as President to push Southern states to approve the amendment as part of his Reconstruction agenda, opponents were pleased. The 27th state to support the 13th Amendment was Georgia on December 6, 1865, almost a year after President Abraham Lincon had formally signed the document. After securing the three-quarters majority of states required to pass the 13th amendment bill, Seward made his historic announcement a short time later.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the political nature of the 13th amendment acted as a reminder to Americans about the importance of constitutional politics in generating a constitutional law. Even though the Supreme Court did nothing to clarify the meaning of the Thirteenth Amendment, it played an important role in constitutional politics at critical points in American history. Due to its powerful promise of freedom and fundamental rights, the Thirteenth Amendment remained essential throughout the years.
As a result, national constitutional awareness of America always included the political Thirteenth Amendment policies. With the absence of the 13th amendment, certain immunities and special interests would have been rendered unconstitutional. This amendment also gave voting rights to both free blacks and former slaves in America.
References
Fodor, J. (2021). Abraham Lincoln and the Corwin amendment – The infamous ‘Ghost version’ of the 13th amendment. Proceedings of the 15th Economics & Finance Conference, Prague. Web.
Harrichand, J. J., Anandavalli, S., & West-Olatunji, C. A. (2021). Othering, Intersectionality, and Americanism. Black and Brown Leadership and the Promotion of Change in an Era of Social Unrest, 184-207.
Lemieux, S. E., & Watkins, D. J. (2017). Democracy-against-Domination and contemporary democratic theory. Judicial Review and Contemporary Democratic Theory, 103-129. Web.
New King James Bible. (2017). Oxford publishers.