The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery throughout the United States, making it a major milestone in the history remembered by America250. Congress passed it in January 1865, and the states ratified it on December 6, 1865.
The amendment states that slavery and involuntary servitude are prohibited, except as punishment for a crime after conviction. It ended the legal institution of slavery nationwide after the Civil War.
President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, but that wartime measure applied mainly to areas in rebellion and did not constitutionally abolish slavery everywhere. The Thirteenth Amendment supplied the nationwide constitutional prohibition.
The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments followed during Reconstruction. They addressed citizenship and equal protection, and voting rights for male citizens, respectively; they did not abolish slavery.