The 13th amendment of the Constitution states that both slavery and involuntary servitude were to be abolished except in the form of punishment for a crime. Ratified just after the civil war, this amendment played a crucial part in making the United States the type of country it is today. At first, the 13th amendment's purpose was actually to uphold slavery rather than abolish it! This amendment was the result of the southern states relying so much on slavery to support their economy. It was passed by both houses, but the Civil War started before the states had a chance to ratify it. The 13th amendment as we know it today was proposed by Abraham Lincoln on January 31st, 1865, when he recognized that the emancipation proclamation(a bill that freed all slaves in the South) would have to be followed by an amendment in order to fully guarantee the abolishment to slavery; although the emancipation proclamation helped the Union win the war when slaves freed by the proclamation backed the Union army, this was just a proclamation, which Lincoln, as the president and commander and chief of the army, could put into action without ratification. An amendment, on the other hand, would have to first be approved by the senate, passed by the House of Representatives, and then, ratified by the majority of the states. Unlike a proclamation, after an amendment is passed, no one can challenge it because it is part of the constitution. After much debate, the amendment was ratified in December of 1865. With this new amendment, the abolition of slavery was forever guaranteed, and the civil rights of Americans were greatly expanded. As we know, 13th amendment was passed in order to abolish slavery, but the issue of slavery was being debated nearly 100 years before the amendment was passed at the constitutional convention. Why did it take so long to make an amendment going one way or the other? The reason was, that the two sides of the argument both felt so s