Amendment XIII
Text:
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.
Background info:
(Proposed January 31, 1865, Ratified December 6, 1865) Conflict in America over the legality of slavery lead to the start of the Civil War, which began in 1861. By the end of the war, Congress had agreed to ban slavery in the country, and the southern states that had succeeded and formed the Confederate States of America had to ratify the new amendment as a part of their re-initiation into the United States. (Mississippi was the last to ratify in 1995.)
Effect:
This protects us citizens from enslavement, thus preventing travesties like the American Slave Trade. It also provides argument against child labor.
In addition, we agree that this amendment should separate and distinguish slavery and criminal punishment within the amendment. The exception for dealing with criminals should be kept separate from the banning of slavery. This amendment could be interpreted to only concern the matters of prison. Certain psychopaths may believe that they are justified in enslaving people.
So, just to clarify, do you agree that slavery should be a punishment for a crime for which a person has been convicted?
ReplyDeleteI think the amendment should include that the guilty party has to be convicted by an actual court. The comic strip depicted a girl enslaving a man because he tried to rob her and she had convicted him herself, which is something that people might actually do. The amendment should be more explicit in that context, but I don't think they have to separate criminal punishments and servitude.
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