What did the 13th Amendment do that the Emancipation Proclamation did not?
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The Emancipation Proclamation had freed slaves in many states nearly three years prior, but the Proclamation was officially a wartime measure, not a formal law. Unlike the Thirteenth Amendment, it did not guarantee the total abolition of slavery. Show
Finally free, former slaves struggled to adjust to living in freedom with their former owners as neighbors. Many freedmen required education previously denied to them, including basic skills such as reading and writing. African-Americans also began migrating to other parts of the country, including the North and the western frontier, in pursuit of greater opportunity. Though the Thirteenth Amendment banned slavery in the United States, it did not give citizenship to African-Americans, nor did it give African-American men the right to vote. These gains were not accomplished until the passage of the other Reconstruction amendments, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, in 1868 and 1870, respectively. Below is a collection of resources recognizing this crucial piece of American law. Browse these resources or jump from section to section by clicking the links below:
Full text of the Thirteenth Amendment
Related JMC pagesFrom JMC’s First Amendment Library: Free Speech and Slavery As the country grew more divided over the question of slavery in the early 19th century and as the threat of secession by the slave states in the south loomed larger over the political landscape, efforts were made in both the south and the north to suppress the slavery issue. Many southern states radically regulated the press, preventing dissemination of anti-slavery literature. Since at this time the Bill of Rights was understood to apply only to the federal government, there was no constitutional question about such measures. However, much of the anti-slavery literature in slave states was being introduced by northern abolitionists through the federal postal system. In response, southern states mandated that their post-masters refrain from delivering anti-slavery materials. Many northern states tolerated these measures either out of support for slavery or out of fear of secession. Congress eventually supported the effort to quarantine the South from anti-slavery agitation with the Post Office Act of 1836, which permitted post-masters to respect local censorship laws. Though this was a federal law and therefore was subject to the First Amendment, it was never brought to the Supreme Court. Read more about free speech and the anti-slavery movement >>
JMC Discovery Pages Black History and African-American Political ThoughtAfrican-Americans have made a lasting impact on the United States and our nation’s history. Figures such as Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King Jr. are well remembered today for their insights and political thought. In honor of black history and the contributions that African-Americans have made to our country, JMC presents a collection of fellows’ articles and other resources on African-American history and political thought. Learn more on the Black History Discovery Page >>
The Fourteenth AmendmentThe Fourteenth Amendment was ratified a few years after the Thirteenth, on July 9, 1868. The amendment granted citizenship to those born or naturalized in the United States and guaranteed freedom, due process, and equal protection under the law to all Americans. In doing so, it expanded the scope of the Constitution’s protection of individual liberty; now the Constitution protected rights not only from infringement by the federal government, but from infringement by state and local government as well. Learn more about the Fourteenth Amendment >>
Frederick Douglass and 19th Century Political ThoughtFrederick Douglass was one of America’s foremost intellectuals and greatest figures in the American antislavery movement. Douglass told the story of his escape from slavery and his arguments against that “hateful thing” were some of the most persuasive of the time. His impressive oratory skills sent him to the national stage, where he influenced other American contemporaries such as Abraham Lincoln, William Lloyd Garrison, and John Brown. Learn more on the Frederick Douglass Discovery Page >> Selected Online ResourcesSelected online resources on the Thirteenth Amendment: National Constitution Center’s Interactive ConstitutionThe National Constitution Center offers a collection of introductory essays by top liberal and conservative legal scholars that give overviews of Thirteenth Amendment as agreed upon by both authors, as well as separate brief statements of these scholars’ disagreements about the law’s interpretation. Visit NCC’s Interactive Constitution >>
The Library of Congress Web Guide to the Thirteenth AmendmentThe Library of Congress has amassed a variety of resources on the Thirteenth Amendment, including primary documents from the time of ratification and related exhibitions and websites. Explore the Library of Congress web guide >>
Documents from Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861-1867The University of Maryland has shared selected documents from the volumes of Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation online. The transcriptions (or, in a few cases, images) of originals are housed in the National Archives of the United States and have been transcribed exactly as written, with no correction of spelling, punctuation, or syntax and no editorial supply of absent punctuation. The documents include letters between a couple separated by war, military orders, and resolutions of Congress, among others. Read original documents from the emancipation era here >>
Harper’s Weekly Resources on the Thirteenth AmendmentHarper’s Weekly was one of the most widely read journals during the Civil War era. HarpWeek, an organization that has indexed all of Harper’s Weekly, has a webpage devoted to the journal’s coverage of the Thirteenth Amendment. The primary source materials on the site include editorials, stories, illustrations, cartoons, as well as documents from key political and military figures of the time. Additionally, HarpWeek has added an annotated timeline, biographical sketches, and a glossary of terms. Visit the HarpWeek Thirteenth Amendment page >>
*If you are a JMC fellow who’s published on slavery, the Thirteenth Amendment or its history and interpretations, and would like your work included here, send it to us at [email protected]. How was the 13th Amendment different from the Emancipation Proclamation?The Emancipation Proclamation described enslaved people as "all persons held as slaves" and tells them to abstain from all violence (except in self-defense) and to labor for reasonable wages. The 13th Amendment describes ending "slavery or involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime." General Order No.
How did the 13th Amendment affect slavery?The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is recognized by many as the formal abolition of slavery in the United States. However, it only ended chattel slavery – slavery in which an individual is considered the personal property of another.
What did the Thirteenth Amendment accomplish?The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865. In the aftermath of the Civil War, this amendment banned slavery in the United States, ending a barbaric system that had been legal in America for well over a hundred years. Four million people, an entire eighth of the U.S. population, were freed as a result.
How did the 13th Amendment affect the civil rights movement?The 13th Amendment abolished enslavement and involuntary servitude—except when applied as punishment for a crime—in the entire United States. The 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, and ratified on December 6, 1865.
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