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Odafe Ivri
Professor Jinaki M. Abdullah
Eng 1313 .02
27 October 2016
Expository Essay

13th Amendment
The 13th amendment is one of the greatest amendments and most influential amendments.
This amendments changes lives for every African American in society. The thirteenth
amendment is the official document that abolished slavery. The civil war and the emancipation
proclamation also stimulated the creation of the Thirteenth Amendment. In this expository essay,
it shows you how these things effected the 13th amendment and how it affected African
Americans all over the world.
Despite the bold commitment to equality in the Declaration of Independence, slavery was
legal in all the thirteen colonies in 1776. By the start of the Civil War, four million people, nearly
all the African descent, were held as slaves in 15 southern and border states. Slaves represented
one-eighth of the U.S. population in 1860 (national constitution center). The war began when the
Confederates bombarded Union soldiers at Fort Sumter, South Carolina on April 12, 1861. The
war ended in Spring, 1865. Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to
Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.

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Many people think that slavery ended through the Emancipation Proclamation, issued by
President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863. However, the Emancipation Proclamation freed
only slaves held in the eleven Confederate states that had seceded, and only in the portion of
those states not already under Union control. When the American Civil War (1861-65) began,
President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) carefully framed the conflict as concerning the
preservation of the Union rather than the abolition of slavery. Although he personally found the
practice of slavery abhorrent, he knew that neither Northerners nor the residents of the border
slave states would support abolition as a war aim.
However, by mid-1862, as thousands of slaves fled to join the invading Northern armies,
Lincoln was convinced that abolition had become more understandable and a sound military
strategy, as well as the better path to choose. On September 22, soon after the Union victory at
the Battle of Antietam in Maryland, he issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation,
declaring that as of January 1, 1863, all slaves in the rebellious states shall be then,
thenceforward, and forever free.
There were several problems with relying on it to ensure an end to slavery in the U.S.
The proclamation was issued using Lincolns war powers and there was concern it couldnt last
or it was temporary. While the Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave (there were
an estimated 800,000 slaves in border states and some 3 million more in Confederate states), it
was an important turning point in the war, transforming the fight to preserve the nation into a
battle for human freedom.

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The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially abolished slavery in America,
and was ratified on December 6, 1865, after the end of the American Civil War. The Amendment
is unique in the Constitution because it bars every person from holding slaves or engaging in
other forms of involuntary servitude, whereas most constitutional provisions only constrain or
regulate the government. The amendment states: 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.
The president and his fellow Republicans knew that the Emancipation Proclamation
might be viewed as a temporary war measure and not outlaw slavery once the Civil War ended,
so they focused on passing a constitutional amendment that would do so. The 13th Amendment
was passed by the U.S. Senate (which was dominated by Republicans) on April 8, 1864.
However, the amendment died in the U.S. House of Representatives as Democrats rallied in the
name of states rights.
The presidential election of 1864 brought Lincoln back to the White House along with
Republican majorities in both legislative bodies. On January 31, 1865, the amendment passed in
the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 119 to 56, seven votes above the necessary twothirds majority. Several Democrats abstained, but the 13th Amendment was sent to the states for
ratification, which came on December 6, 1865. With the passage of the amendment, the peculiar
institution that had indelibly shaped American history was eradicated. Thats when the true
abolition of slavery was achieved.

Works Cited

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http://www.historynet.com/thirteenth-amendment
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/thirteenth-amendment
https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xiii