ResistanceDecember 6, 1865

The 13th Amendment

Slavery is abolished — except as punishment for crime, a loophole that enables convict leasing.

Resources

The amendment abolishing slavery, ratified December 6, 1865.

Pulitzer-winning history of convict leasing and re-enslavement after the Civil War.

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.

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From Owned to Caste
The "except as a punishment for crime" clause became the legal hinge of the caste era, reused from convict leasing to mass incarceration.
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Chattel Slavery
Abolished the legal status of human beings as property — but left the convict-labor exception open.
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Convict Leasing & Debt Peonage
The amendment's "except as punishment for crime" clause became the loophole for forced prison labor.

The "except as a punishment for crime" clause became the legal hinge of the caste era, reused from convict leasing to mass incarceration.

Abolished the legal status of human beings as property — but left the convict-labor exception open.

The amendment's "except as punishment for crime" clause became the loophole for forced prison labor.