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What Is The Significance Of The 13th Amendment Essay

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Introduction BOOM, The sound of a canon being fired rings through the air! Proposed during the Civil War by the current President Abraham Lincoln, this change to U.S. history was quite drastic. This amendment expressed the ending of slavery, as well as a step towards equality for the African-American race. Therefore; I find the 13th amendment to be a signifcant and important part of our contry's history. How the Constitution is Amended The Constitution says that an amendment may be proposed either by Congress or a constitutional convention. Congress must have a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. So far, none of the 27 amendments have been suggested by constitutional convention. The President does …show more content…

The importance this amendment created for the Constitution was very large. Most know about the Civil War; the war between the northen and southern states over the issue of slavery (northern supporting slavery, southern against it). The 13th amendment created a constitutional amendment that banned slavery in all the U.S. states. In 1863, Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in the "rebelling" part of America - so basically within the Confederacy. The passage of the 13th amendment addressed this issue and formally outlawed slavery in the …show more content…

This amendment ended a moral wrong in this country of viewing people as property, as well as helping to push an eventual understanding of equality between blacks and whites. It was a small step, yet a very imprortant one. Just think ... where would we be today if this amendment ceased to exsist? Support for the Amendment Once the Civil War began, President Lincoln's ultimate goal was the restoration of the Union. However, the Union was keeping escaped slaves instead of returning them (which caused Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation). This measure opened the problem of what to do with slaves that had been captured by the Union. Eventually, the War ended, and the northern states won. Without President Lincoln's Proclamation, the outcome may have looked different You've probably guessed it by now - Lincoln proposed the 13th amendment himself! This is why he was most likely the biggest supporter. Opposition to the

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