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Course: Constitution 101 Sandbox > Unit 5
Lesson 6: 7.6: Reconstruction: The Thirteenth Amendment- Primary Source: Text of the Thirteenth Amendment
- What were the constitutional debates over slavery before the Civil War?
- Why did President Lincoln and his Republican allies push for the 13th Amendment?
- Why is the 13th Amendment important?
- Info Brief: The Thirteenth Amendment—Framing, Ratification, and Principles
- Interactive Constitution Essay: The Thirteenth Amendment
- Interactive: Drafting Table—The Thirteenth Amendment
- What is the importance of the “criminal exception” language in the 13th Amendment?
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Interactive: Drafting Table—The Thirteenth Amendment
Google ClassroomExplore the National Constitution Center’s interactive drafting table on the Thirteenth Amendment to discover how the Reconstruction generation framed and ratified this transformational amendment that abolished slavery.
Explore the National Constitution Center’s interactive drafting table on the Thirteenth Amendment to discover how the Reconstruction generation framed and ratified this transformational amendment that abolished slavery. The Thirteenth Amendment represented the first of three constitutional promises that the Reconstruction generation made to establish a multiracial democracy.
Click on different provisions of the amendment and scroll through the timeline to see how the various provisions changed over time. Click on the supplemental documents and people to read further descriptions of the vital moments and characters in the drafting and ratification story.
Guiding Questions:
- Click on the “Abolition” tab and read through the various drafts of the abolition clause of the Thirteenth Amendment. What language or phrasing was constant? What changed?
- Click through each of the tabs—“Abolition,” “Criminal Exception,” and “Enforcement of the 13th”—and read the background text for each one. As you read this background information, please also click on each of the three pictures associated with each tab.
- Take a look at Senator Charles Sumner’s proposal. How does it compare to the Thirteenth Amendment?
- Now click on the “Criminal Exception” tab. While the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, it still permits forced labor for people with criminal convictions. How did we get this exception, and how did some states exploit this provision in later years?
- Scroll along the timeline at the bottom of the page. How did broader political and military events shape the framing history of the Thirteenth Amendment?