Why Is The 13th Amendment Important

American author Mark Twain famously said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and…” Well, what follows is not exactly paramount. I was born on January 31, 2001. Exactly 136 years earlier, congress passed the 13th amendment, arguably one of the most important amendments to the U.S. constitution. It added the words “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist” to the sacred document, forever changing the future of America. The 13th Amendment is an extremely important part of American history because it abolished slavery, sparked reform, and ended the American civil war.
Prior to the 13th Amendment, slavery was a common practice in America. In fact, the encouragement of slavery had been cleverly weaved

However, even though Lincoln’s executive order proclaimed the freedom of slaves, their post-war fate was not yet determined, as the emancipation proclamation did not specify the legal status of slaves after the war ended. This led to an amendment to abolish slavery, which was passed by the senate on April 8th, 1864. The amendment was initially unsuccessful, but with relentless determination and substantial legislative action by the Lincoln administration, was eventually passed by the house. Immediately after approval of the new amendment, it was ratified in the northern states in addition to a small number of southern states. This amendment became what is now known as the 13th Amendment to the U.S.

First, it nullified the Three-Fifths Compromise, which led to changes in representation in the House. It also paved the road for the 14th and 15th Amendments to the constitution, which further elaborated on the rights of slaves. When ratified, the 13th amendment was greeted with high favoritism in the north and tied into Lincoln’s reelection in the spring of 1865. In addition to influencing American politics, the amendment also shifted the southern American economy from one that heavily relied on the slave trade to one that prospered off other