On December 6, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified when Georgia approved it, providing the necessary number of states. The amendment outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It codified the legal end of slavery that President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had begun during the Civil War. Ratification marked a major turning point in American history but did not resolve questions about citizenship, voting rights, or racial equality. Formerly enslaved people still faced violence, discrimination, and restrictive “Black Codes.” The amendment nevertheless laid the foundation for later civil rights amendments and legislation.
