13th Amendment Pros And Cons

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 14th Amendment of the United States constitution guarantees that, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” (U.S Constitution, Sec. 1). This amendment gives the citizens of the United States their basic human rights and the process that must be taken accounted for in any given court cases. No individual born in the United States should be stripped from their rights no matter the circumstances, for example the skin color, race, religious beliefs or sexuality preferences should interfere. The Constitution is a document that was signed on September 17, 1787 for the nation in order to solve any pre-occurring disagreements that were bound to happen soon (“Constitution Faqs”). The document establishes the rights that are given to all U.S citizens laying out their rights, the freedoms that they are granted, and the series of events that were to occur in the court of law. When the Constitution was signed into effect many people at that time period had a hard time adjusting to the new laws and regulations. Despite the new laws, many would still abide their own personal traditions and not follow the new established laws. This Mentality that many had would continue to happen for the next couple of decades to come. For example,

The 13th Amendment says “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.” (Doc C) Although many years later African Americans still were not being treated like people, abolishing slavery was a big step to the stop of harsh treatment toward African Americans. The citizenship, and the right to vote are granted to African Americans by the 14, and 15 Amendments. The passing of these Amendments insured that the African Americans are people.

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the United States and would essentially free an entire people from the chains of bondage. Many of the framers of the constitution were in fact slave owners. It is believed that as many as twenty five of the fifty members of the continental convention were slave holders at one time or another. Could the Constitution have been written in such a way that it would support slavery? The author, Steven Mitz writes: "Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to sit on the Supreme Court, said that the Constitution was 'defective from the start.' He pointed out that the framers had left out a majority of Americans when they wrote the phrase, 'We the People.'". Aside from the Bill of Rights, the Thirteenth Amendment is one of the most important amendments to the Constitution, in the fact that it effectively ended slavery in the United States.

The genre of “Saving the Right to Organize” would be an article. This would be a secondary source because it is an article, and it refines the primary source. The topic of this source would be that it focuses on the 13th Amendment replacing the Wagner Act on labor movements in the U.S. Percentage of U.S. workers who were unionized in 1953. A good thesis from this source would be Mark Dudzic’s words, “Articulating [worker] right[s] solely as an

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.

The 24 Amendment allows citizens to vote in federal elections regardless to them paying poll taxes or any other taxes. This amendment also allows congress to invoke this article at any time if necessary, as long as they have approval from the Senate.

Pongskon Bupphasawan Professor Sharifian Government 2305-75427 June 30, 2017 The Fourteenth Amendment Introduces a Passive Citizenship The 14th Amendment authorizes all the people who is born on the U.S. soil automatically get an U.S. citizenship. Therefore, the 14th Amendment brings thousands of foreigners who desire American residency to give their children birth in the U.S. There are no laws to reject pregnant women to come to the U.S. Foreigners believe they would get a better healthcare and many of them believe to seek American Dream. 1 According to the “Born In The USA: Why Chinese ‘Birth Tourism’ Is Booming In California”, “Chinese women are flocking to the United States — California, in particular — to have children who will grow up as American citizens,” and it reports that “Chinese births in the U.S, but estimates by industry publications projected a total of 60,000 for 2014” (Sheehan). The 14th Amendment should require more process to give a U.S. citizen from birth tourism by requiring the tourists parents enroll in a program that teach about U.S. government, and they will know the duty of American is a must for Americans.

The U.S Constitution has evolved over time from what the original writers wanted. Most importantly, these changes are positive because equality is what the United States is all about. These changes pertain to the amendments regarding right to bare arms, slavery, and the right for all male citizens to vote.

Many people like to argue that prior to the ratification of the 13th Amendment different people or groups freed the slaves. However it was Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves. Lincoln was not able to abolish slavery at first due to the fact that It was sanctioned by the highest law in the land, the Constitution. In which the Constitution included key clauses protecting the institution, including a fugitive slave clause and the three-fifths clause. Lincoln later in a three-hour speech in Illinois of 1854, he presented more clearly than ever his moral, legal and economic opposition to slavery. Only with his support of the eventual 13th Amendment, would Lincoln finally win over the most committed abolitionists. He used a multitude of methods to free the slaves, a small list that actually had an impact would start with his speech at Newhaven.

Much controversy has been seen in politics specifically in immigration and the ratification of the 14th amendment. While some argue that changes should be made to the 14th amendment, others argue that immigrants are major contributors to the United States economy. Over the recent years, rising immigration numbers have been seen however, the impact on the US has shown more pros than cons. There should not be any more restrictions to the 14th amendment because having those hard-working Americans has played a significant role such as supporting the US need for economic growth, education, and innovation-essential skills.

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

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.

Other than the Bill of Rights, I consider the Thirteenth Amendment to be the most important amendment to the Constitution. Despite what many may believe, the Emancipation Proclamation itself did not free any slaves; it was the Thirteenth Amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude (Vorenburg). This was ground-breaking after the Civil War, and it remains incredibly important.