The New York Times, among others, continues to casually assert that the Constitution affirmed African-Americans to be worth only three-fifths of a human being. Textbooks and history books routinely dismiss the Constitution as racist and pro-slavery. ![]() While all today recognize this momentous accomplishment, many remain confused about the status of slavery under the original Constitution. With the passage of the 13th Amendment-which states that “either 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”-the central contradiction at the heart of the Founding was resolved.Įighty-nine years after the Declaration of Independence had proclaimed all men to be free and equal, race-based chattel slavery would be no more in the United States. The newspaper said the amendment “takes out of politics, and consigns to history, an institution incongruous to our political system, inconsistent with justice and repugnant to the humane sentiments fostered by Christian civilization.” ![]() ![]() The New York World hailed it as “one of the most important reforms ever accomplished by voluntary human agency.” One hundred and fifty years ago this month, the 13th Amendment officially was ratified, and with it, slavery finally was abolished in America.
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