13th Amendment Abolishes Slavery with Convict Leasing Exception

The 13th Amendment formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude 'except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.' The exception clause was immediately exploited by Southern states: by criminalizing ordinary Black behavior through vagrancy and Black Code statutes, states could re-enslave Black people through the criminal justice system. Convict leasing — which sent prisoners to work for private companies under brutal conditions — was directly enabled by this constitutional exception and became the dominant labor system in several Southern states.