Amendment 13 of 27 · 1865
Thirteenth Amendment
Ending slavery
The one-line version
Slavery and forced labor are banned everywhere in the United States, except as punishment for someone convicted of a crime.
The Thirteenth Amendment in plain English
Section 1. Slavery and involuntary servitude are not allowed in the United States or any place under U.S. jurisdiction. The only exception is as a punishment for a crime, after a person has been properly convicted.
Section 2. Congress has the power to enforce this amendment by passing appropriate laws.
Original text, 1865
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. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Phrase by phrase
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude
- No slavery, and no forced labor of any kind.
except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted
- The one exception is punishment for a person who was properly convicted of a crime.
within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction
- This applies everywhere the United States governs, including its territories.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
- Congress can pass laws to enforce this ban.
Picture it
Example. Not legal advice.
A job recruiter takes your passport and says you cannot leave until you pay off a large "travel debt." Forcing someone to work through threats or debt like this is a federal crime. The National Human Trafficking Hotline, 1-888-373-7888, is open 24 hours.
What this means for you
Slavery and forced labor are banned
The Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery in the United States in December 1865. It also bans involuntary servitude, meaning work forced by threats, violence, or legal pressure. This covers debt bondage, human trafficking, and other forced labor, not only slavery as it existed before 1865.
It applies to private people too
Most of the Constitution limits only what the government can do. The Thirteenth Amendment is different. It bans anyone, including a private employer, from holding a person in slavery or forced labor.
The punishment-for-crime exception
The text allows involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime, after a proper conviction. This clause is the legal basis for required work in prisons. Some states pay people in prison very little or nothing for this work.
Since 2018, several states have changed their own state constitutions to remove a similar exception. Whether the federal exception should stay is debated.
If someone is forcing you to work
Forcing someone to work through threats, debt, taking their documents, or physical restraint is a federal crime. The National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888 and is open 24 hours. You can also text 233733.
Myth check
MythThe Thirteenth Amendment only limits the government.
FactIt bans slavery and forced labor by anyone, including private employers. That is unusual, because most of the Constitution limits only the government.
MythThe military draft is banned as involuntary servitude.
FactThe Supreme Court said no in the Selective Draft Law Cases (1918). Required military service is not banned by this amendment.
MythForced labor ended in 1865.
FactForced labor still happens in the United States, through trafficking and debt. Federal laws passed under Section 2 make it a crime.
Common questions
What does the 13th Amendment say in simple terms?
It means slavery and forced labor are banned everywhere in the United States. The text makes one exception: punishment for a crime after a person has been convicted. It also gives Congress power to pass laws that enforce the ban.
Does the 13th Amendment allow prison labor?
Yes. The text makes an exception for "punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." Courts have read this to allow required work in prison. Some people argue the exception should be removed, and several states have removed similar wording from their own constitutions. Others argue prison work serves useful purposes.
Is the military draft involuntary servitude?
No. In the Selective Draft Law Cases (1918), the Supreme Court held that required military service is not involuntary servitude under the Thirteenth Amendment. The Court called military service a duty that citizens owe to the government.
Does the 13th Amendment apply to private employers?
Yes. Unlike most of the Constitution, it bans slavery and forced labor by anyone, not only the government. In United States v. Kozminski (1988), the Supreme Court said involuntary servitude means forced labor through physical or legal coercion, or threats of either.
Can I be forced to work off a debt?
No. In Bailey v. Alabama (1911), the Supreme Court held that a state cannot use criminal law to force a person to work off a debt. Forcing someone to work to pay a debt is called peonage, and federal law makes it a crime.
Go deeper
The scene · 1865
The Civil War ended in the spring of 1865. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed enslaved people only in areas still in rebellion, and it was a wartime order. Many feared a court or a later President could undo it. The Thirteenth Amendment, ratified in December 1865, ended slavery everywhere in the country.
Back then
The original Constitution protected slavery in several places without using the word, such as the Three-Fifths Clause and the Fugitive Slave Clause. By 1860, about 4 million people were enslaved in the United States. Lawmakers copied the amendment's wording from the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which banned slavery in the Northwest Territory with the same crime exception.
Words that changed
- “involuntary servitude”
ThenForced work, such as being bound to an employer you could not leave.
NowWork forced through physical harm, legal threats, or threats of either. The Court used this meaning in United States v. Kozminski (1988).
- “duly convicted”
ThenFound guilty through a proper legal process.
NowSame meaning today.
Who argued what
Remove the exception
Supporters of removal say no one should be forced to work against their will. They point out that the exception was used after the Civil War to rebuild forced labor through convict leasing.
Keep the exception
Supporters of keeping it say work can be a lawful part of a sentence. They argue prison work teaches job skills, helps cover costs, and keeps order in prisons.
Key cases
- 1883
Civil Rights Cases
The Thirteenth Amendment did not let Congress ban race discrimination by private businesses such as inns and theaters.
- 1911
Bailey v. Alabama
A state cannot use criminal law to force a person to work off a debt.
- 1918
Selective Draft Law Cases
A military draft is not involuntary servitude under the Thirteenth Amendment.
- 1968
Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Co.
Congress can use the Thirteenth Amendment to ban private race discrimination in selling or renting property.
- 1988
United States v. Kozminski
Involuntary servitude means forced labor through physical or legal coercion, or threats of either.
More history and context
The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865. That was eight months after the Civil War ended and after President Lincoln was killed. It was the first of three Reconstruction Amendments, along with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth, passed to deal with slavery and its aftermath.
Before this amendment, the Constitution left slavery to each state. It also protected slavery in several places, including the Three-Fifths Clause and the Fugitive Slave Clause. The Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery nationwide.
Section 2 lets Congress enforce the ban. Congress used it to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and, much later, federal laws against human trafficking.
After the Civil War, Southern states used the punishment-for-crime exception to create convict leasing. Black Americans were arrested under vagrancy laws and other unfair laws, then rented out as forced labor. This history is part of current debates about prison labor in the United States.
Actively contested
Courts are still deciding parts of this. Open questions include:
- Whether the punishment-for-crime exception should stay in the Constitution
- How the exception applies to required prison work and pay today
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