The thirteenth amendment to the Constitution proclaims that “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.” This amendment was the piece of history that abolished slavery and did innumerable things for our country, but it also made room for something now known as black criminality. Through the thirteenth amendment emancipation was born. Through the language of the constitution— “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime”, the amendment was able to make loopholes for certain social agendas that led to the opposite of what the amendment intended to do. …show more content…
Through the thirteenth amendment emancipation was born. Through the language of the constitution— “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime”, the amendment was able to make loopholes for certain social agendas that led to the opposite of what the amendment intended to do. It has been able to metaphorically enslave blacks by creating the ability to have the stereotype of black criminality. Black criminality is the myth that has played throughout our society, that depicts black people as criminals, especially black men. This stereotype has caused people to fear away from black people due to the prejudices that the stigmatization of being black holds. Once the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery, Jim Crow Laws appeared within our society, which orchestrated the myth of Blacks being criminals. This stigmatization of a whole race was created through an anomaly of the thirteenth amendment. Something that seems to start the upward battle of a race of people who had been held back because of the laws of slavery, have now found a new struggle to endure, called black criminality, through the unconscientious decision of the wording of the thirteenth amendment that was made to grant
We saw the Thirteenth Amendment occur to abolish slavery. We also saw the Civil Rights Acts which gave full citizenship, as well as the prohibiting the denial of due process, etc. Having the civil rights laws enabled African Americans to new freedoms which they did not used to have. There was positive change occurring in the lives of African Americans. However, there was still a fight to suppress African Americans and maintain the racial hierarchy by poll taxes and lengthy and expensive court proceedings. Sadly, this is when Jim Crow laws appeared. During this time African Americans were losing their stride, there was an increase in prison populations and convict labor, and the convicts were
The 13th Amendment to the constitution was made to give African American people declared that "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"(S.Banfield). This, to the African Americans, was such an amazing new law. It freed many slaves in the South and slaves in the North who weren’t freed already. It put an end to the harsh treatment and work with no pay that the men and women who were slaves had to deal with on a daily basis. This was something good that came from the 13th Amendment. But once they were on their own most African Americans had a very hard time. Before this Amendment was passed they were used to living in someone elses home and being fed by their family. They almost never had the skills needed to live on their own in the 19th Century.
While this was a milestone in the progress for Black rights, this seemingly problem-solving legislation for former slaves did not prevent future hardships by any means. Efforts were made in the southern states to keep blacks from reaping the benefits given to them by the Fourteenth Amendment by maintaining blacks’ position at the bottom of the social hierarchy thus keeping the idea of slavery alive without actually keeping slavery alive. An example of this is the 1876 Jim Crow Laws which called for the organization of separate restrooms, waiting facilities, restaurants, prisons, schools and textbooks, militia, and transportation. It also denied intermarriage, among many other hindrances inflicted by this legislation. 2
The 13th amendment was adopted speedily in the aftermath of the Civil War, with the simple direct purpose of forbidding slavery anywhere in the United States. The 13th Amendment took authority away from the states, so that no state could institute slavery, and it attempted to constitutional grant the natural right of liberty. Think that this amendment would suffice, Congressional Republicans pushed the amendment through. To counter the amendment, a series of laws called the Black Codes were enacted by the former Confederate states, which
Though the issue of slavery was solved, racism continues and Southerners that stayed after the war passed Black Codes which subverted the ideas of freedom including the actions of state legislatures (Hakim 19). Black Codes were a set of laws that discriminated blacks and limited their freedom (Jordan 388). Such restrictions included: “No negro shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish...No public meetings or congregations of negroes shall be allowed within said parish after sunset…” (Louisiana Black Codes 1865). A solution to this was the 14th Amendment. It meant now all people born in America were citizens and it “Prohibited states from revoking one’s life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” This meant all states had to...
In Blackmon 's book "Slavery by Another Name," he argues the existence of slavery after it was outlawed in 1865. This continued presence of slavery contributes to the existing racial problems faced in this day and age. On April 8, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, by Congress and The House, outlawing slavery. Although this amendment was passed as Blackmon points out there were ways around this amendment. Blackmon addresses four of the many ways that people would enslave blacks after the amendment was passed, those being convict leasing, sharecropping, chain gangs and peonage. This essay will go into depth on these four points and will tell a personal critic on Blackmon 's work.
Excellent discussion. When the 13th Amendment prohibited the institution of slavery, it were unclear about the status of the black's in the South after the war. With the Reconstruction policies, whites reestablished civil authority in the southern states (formally known as the Confederate states). The whites created a series of black codes. With these restrictive laws, they were made to restrict the freed black's work activity and use them for general labor since slavery was no longer prohibited. Also, under the black codes, some of the states were forced black worker to sign labor contract. If they refused, they subjected to being fined, not getting paid, or jailed. The Northerners wasn't happy with the black codes, so the control of the
Ratifying the thirteenth amendment was the pinnacle of the reconstruction era, and would change the United States for the rest of history. "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." Before December 6 1865, slavery consumed all of America, enslaving millions of innocent men, women, and children, for no other reason than the color of their skin or their birth. The ratification of this amendment granted them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, inalienable rights
During the time of reconstruction, the 13th amendment abolished slavery. As the Nation was attempting to pick up their broken pieces and mend the brokenness of the states, former slaves were getting the opportunity to start their new, free lives. This however, created tension between the Northerners and the Southerners once again. The Southerners hated the fact that their slaves were being freed and did not belong to them anymore. The plantations were suffering without the slaves laboring and the owners were running out of solutions. This created tension between the Southern planation owners and the now freed African Americans. There were many laws throughout the North and the South that were made purposely to discriminate the African Americans.
Many Americans believe the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment signifies the end of the oppression for African-Americans and marks the beginning of equality for all citizens in the United States, but that belief notes their lack of social awareness. The amendment abolishes slavery, but states the exception, as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. Even though the amendment did much to ameliorate African-Americans' position in society, the exception presents a loophole that enables the exploitation of African-Americans. The exception of punishment in the Thirteenth Amendment reconstructed systemic racism rather than de-institutionalize slavery, which made a negative impact on American society.
Most black Americans are under the control of the criminal justice today whether in parole or probation or whether in jail or prison. Accomplishments of the civil rights association have been challenged by mass incarceration of the African Americans in fighting drugs in the country. Although the Jim Crow laws are not so common, many African Americans are still arrested for very minor crimes. They remain disfranchised and marginalized and trapped by criminal justice that has named them felons and refuted them their rights to be free of lawful employment and discrimination and also education and other public benefits that other citizens enjoy. There is exists discernment in voting rights, employment, education and housing when it comes to privileges. In the, ‘the new Jim crow’ mass incarceration has been described to serve the same function as the post civil war Jim crow laws and pre civil war slavery. (Michelle 16) This essay would defend Michelle Alexander’s argument that mass incarcerations represent the ‘new Jim crow.’
The passage of the 13th amendment seems simple. Lincoln declared the emancipation proclamation and set the majority of the slaves free. General opinion was already shifting toward abolition and a bill like the 13th amendment seemed inevitable. This is the well-known but extremely overgeneralized view of national abolition. Leonard L. Richards attempts to correct this general perspective in Who freed the slaves?. He argues that abolitionists were actually fighting an uphill battle throughout the civil war. Not only was there opposition from Democrats, the majority of Republicans was also against abolition. This only changed near the end of the civil war with countless endeavors to change public opinion and heavy secret bargaining.
...as one of the most influential Amendments passed in the U.S. ended slavery, but African Americans still did not have the same rights that white Americans did. The 13th amendment made everyone seem the same. People should not be treated different and we are all equal.
After the Union had won the war they passed an amendment that would give the slaves their freedom. The 13th amendment stated, 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. Also, Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation (“Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution”, Wikipedia). This order weakened the Three-Fifths Compromise and the Fugitive Slave Clause that was placed on African Americans. African Americans were now longer counted as three-fifth of a person when it came to representation nor subjected to unusual punishment. The protection of these new found freedoms was also promised in the 13th amendment, so that it will be more effective than the Emancipation Proclamation. But, slaves were not the only ones that benefited from the 13th Amendment, so did people who were traficked. Human trafficking is also another form of slavery was abolished when the 13th Amendment was
In this essay I will be writing about the effectiveness of the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America and considering whether they achieved the purpose of making life better for African Americans. I’m going to start this essay by talking about the Amendments and what they were designed to achieve.