6 December 1865
Constitutional amendment / redressSupplement
Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery with a criminal-punishment exception
United States; enslaved people and later incarcerated workers
Ratification prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States and places subject to its jurisdiction, except as punishment for a crime after due conviction. Section 2 gave Congress power to enforce the amendment by legislation.
Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.
Context / qualification
The punishment exception was not permission for every coercive labor arrangement: in United States v. Reynolds (1914), the Supreme Court held Alabama’s criminal-surety labor system unlawful peonage.