13th Amendment Annotated Bibliography

The 13th Amendment, created out of the ashes of the American Civil War, 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." It was an end to the harsh cruelty that was brought upon African Americans for generations; however, a loophole exists within a simple phrase: “except as a punishment for crime…”. Even though all Americans are considered free under the 13th Amendment on paper, in reality this cannot be further from the truth as people were still considered a slave to the state if they committed a crime. Over time though, this “hands-off” doctrine approach gradually started to shift throughout the 1960s and 70s because the Civil Rights Movement stretched far beyond just African Americans. For prisoners, it was a justifiable call to action for basic human rights.

The 13th amendment abolished slavery and freed millions of African Americans. This was supposed to improve their lives and give them a new beginning. However, more than 30 years after the abolishment, their situation has not improved. Their right to vote was revoked in many southern states during the early 1890s. Less than 40% of black children were enrolled in schools in Georgia by 1880. Between 1880 and 1918, over 2400 African Americans were hanged. Africans had the lowest paying jobs and very few owned land. Jim Crow laws were established in many southern states to legalize segregation. Their situation was disastrous and wasn’t improving. Four respected spokespersons presented their ideas to fix this racial inequality crisis. The four courageous people who offered their alternatives were Ida B Wells, Booker T. Washington, Henry Turner and W.E.B Du Bois.

The topic that I chose for my research paper is the Jim Crow laws. I chose this topic because during this time period the Jim Crow laws were a huge obstacle that our country had to overcome in order to grow. The Jim Crow laws were created to separate whites and blacks in their everyday lives, allowing for no interaction between races. The Jim Crow Laws were enforced in the southern, United States. The laws existed between 1877 and the 1950’s, around the time the reconstruction period was ending and the civil rights movement was beginning.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is commonly regarded as a major victory against racism that further advanced democracy in America. Adopted on July 9, 1868, it attempted to transform the oppressive culture of the Confederacy by granting citizenship rights to all people born or naturalized in the United States and affording equal protection under the law to all U.S. citizens. Nonetheless, in spite of aiming to put an end to discrimination against African-Americans and other minority groups, this important amendment did not entirely succeed in eradicating racism during the Reconstruction era.

Prior to the Civil War in 1865, most of the African Americans remained slaves and were denied life, liberty and property. The 14th Amendment paved the way for former slaves and oppressed groups of people to come, granting them citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. One of the main oppressed groups currently are same sex couples. For a long period of time, they were denied marriage and did not receive any rights as far as benefits because they loved a person of the same gender. In 2015, the Supreme Court ruled that all state bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional and made same sex marriage legal in the United States of America.

Issued by Abraham Lincoln, the Emancipation Proclamation set all slaves, under Confederate control, free, and armed black troops for the Civil War. A year later, beginning in September of 1864, Maryland, Tennessee, Missouri, and Louisiana abolished slavery. Shortly after, approved by Congress in February of 1865 and ratified in December, the Thirteenth Amendment was official. This amendment abolished slavery throughout the entire Union, which finally freed Kentucky and Delaware slaves. The war started as a fight to preserve the Union, but the new amendment went to show that the war had shifted to a fight to end slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment resulted in the abolition of slavery permanently. Although this freedom did not mean equality. Northern African Americans had been battling for their civil rights before and after the war. They were petitioning and campaigning at the state level, and created the National Convention of Colored Men and the National Rights League at the national level. None of these had as big of an impact as when the Radical republicans in Congress got involved to help overturn the inequalities.

In this thesis I am going to analyze the impact of the 14th Amendment during the Civil Rights years.

The Jim Crow Laws were laws that segregated white people and colored people. They did this by making whites go to different schools than colored people. They also made it to where blacks had to go to different shops than whites. They said it was separate but equal. It was not the colored people would get bad quality in every area they were allowed. This is what the Jim Crow Laws were about they were supposed to make black people feel like second class citizens. Like they would have to sit in the back of the bus. Many people fought against these laws including Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. These iconic people were considered leaders in the fight against racial segregation. As stated earlier the 15th amendment was supposed to be an amendment to where blacks got to vote. Yet they were prevented from stretching their right to vote. When they would try to vote they would be hit with obstacles like the grandfather clause and the literacy test. But that is not all they would be hurt or abused every time they would try to vote. This is what the cause was why these iconic people became famous. They went through trials to fight for the rights of black people and to bring awareness to the fact that the Jim Crow laws were not equal and pried on black people. The main reason for all of this discrimination was because before all of the amendments slavery was a big thing in America. So when the amendment came out saying that slavery was not

Argument found in 13th: 13th states a problem about our 13th amendment claiming that everyone is free to their freedom but in all reality African Americans are still being targeted and put in prisons and treated like slaves for no reason.

Slavery is alive in the United States of America; it’s just morphed to fit itself into modern times. Every time I see the text of the 13th Amendment, I wonder if that little caveat was intentional or just really naïve.

In the 1860s, the north and the south fought against each other over the long-standing controversy over slavery. At the end of the Civil War, the 13th amendment abolish slavery and slaves were free from their masters. The ex-slaves were free, but it would take some time for them to gain equal rights. Former slaves faced obstacles for equal rights like voting and segregation for nearly a century. Although the 14th and 15th amendments helped blacks with equal rights, there was no one to blaze a trail for blacks until Martin Luther King Jr. came along. Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist and became a figurehead during the Civil Rights Movement for his peaceful protests. Martin Luther King Jr. peacefully stood against racial

After the Civil War, America experienced a period called Reconstruction. In this period promptly taking after the Civil War, the central government pointed towards bringing together the United States again. The defiant Southerners who had battled in the Confederate military were currently compelled to join the Northerners trying to reproduce the United States. Ex-subjugated African Americans were still struggling to be treated fairly in a country which had been separated somewhat because of the point of subjection. Numerous adjustments in the legislature had occurred subsequent to the Civil War. In the months taking after the Election of 1876, however before the initiation in March 1877, Republican and Democratic pioneers subtly worked out

Thanks to the groundbreaking Thirteenth Amendment, no person may be forced to work except in retribution for a crime he or she committed. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is often viewed only as the amendment that abolished the insufferable slavery of African-Americans, - and this does appear to be the case on the surface - however many more interpretations promise many useful arguments for the labor movement and cause controversy over its ineffectiveness in combating racism and its hand in creating the hotly-debated American for-profit prison system.

It also allowed black men to join the Union Army and Navy, “enabling the liberated to become liberators.” (The Emancipation Proclamation) The big change in slavery and the fight for equality did not come until the Thirteenth Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865 and ratified by the states on December 6, 1865. With this event, it was 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.” (13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution) Although this Amendment did give slaves their freedom, it did not guarantee them the same rights nor the same treatment that other citizens of the United States had and took for granted. This was especially seen in the states that “enacted ‘black codes’ that were intended to limit the civil rights of the newly free slaves.” (Civil Rights) These “black codes” and the obvious difference in treatment were a large issue, and they were later addressed in the Constitution with the introduction of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868 and it made large changes for black individuals. This Amendment “granted citizenship to ‘all persons born or naturalized in the United States,’ which included former slaves recently freed.” (14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) It also “forbids states from denying

By the time the sun barely peeks over the horizon, several others and I have been working the fields for hours. We pick cotton until our fingers bleed. If my first strip isn’t done before noon, the whip will come slashing. If I complete my strip and take a break before moving on to the next section, the whip will come slashing. If my legs give out and can no longer support my weight, the whip will come slashing. When I was informed about the new amendment to the constitution tears welled up in my eyes as I took a step towards freedom, or what I thought was freedom. The thirteenth amendment brought forth the idea that slavery would be abolished. However, the congressmen left a loophole in the amendment, allowing slavery to continue, but under another name.