What is Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution?
{{US Constitution article series}} The '''Thirteenth Amendment''' was an [[amendment]] to the [[United States Constitution]], meaning that it was a change to the basic and most important laws that govern the United States. It abolished [[slave]]ry in the [[United States]]. It was passed in December 6, 1865, at the end of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] with only a handful of Democrats supporting the Amendment in both Chambers of Congress. It was one of the [[Reconstruction Amendments]]. It [[repeal]]ed [[Article Four of the United States Constitution|Article Four, Section 2, of the Constitution; the Fugitive Slave Clause]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ashbrook.org/publications/respub-v6n1-boyd/ |title=A Look Into the Constitutional Understanding of Slavery |author=Susan L. Boyd |date=April 1995 |website= |publisher=Ashbrook Center at Ashland University |accessdate=17 March 2016}}</ref>{{Verify credibility|date=July 2019}} ==Text== ::'''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.''' [[United States Congress|Congress]] shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate [[legislation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxiii.html|title=13th Amendment &#124; U.S. Constitution &#124; LII / Legal Information Institute|publisher=Law.cornell.edu|date=2012-11-20|accessdate=2012-11-30}}</ref> ==History== Prior to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Constitution allowed slavery. However, many groups [[Abolitionism|sought to end slavery]] in the United States. The groups became the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] in 1856, and gained power in 1860 with the election of [[Abraham Lincoln]]. In 1863, Lincoln issued the [[Emancipation Proclamation]], which freed slaves only in certain parts of the United States, and did not actually make sla