What did the Thirteenth Amendment do?
• repealed the Three-Fifths Compromise
• granted former slaves the right to vote
• made slavery illegal in the United States
• provided land to former slaves
The Thirteenth Amendment made slavery illegal in the United States.
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on December 6, 1865, made slavery illegal throughout the United States. It abolished and prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. Therefore, the correct option is "made slavery illegal in the United States."
The correct answer is: The Thirteenth Amendment made slavery illegal in the United States.
To arrive at this answer, you can follow these steps:
1. Understand what the Thirteenth Amendment is: The Thirteenth Amendment is an amendment to the United States Constitution that was ratified in 1865.
2. Study the context of the Thirteenth Amendment: Prior to the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery was legal in the United States. The amendment was introduced in response to the Civil War and the emancipation of enslaved individuals.
3. Read the text of the Thirteenth Amendment: The Thirteenth Amendment states, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
4. Analyze the amendment: From the text of the Thirteenth Amendment, it explicitly states that slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime, will not be allowed in the United States. This effectively abolished slavery in the country.
5. Compare the answer choices: Now that you have analyzed the Thirteenth Amendment, you can evaluate the answer choices.
• Repealed the Three-Fifths Compromise: The Three-Fifths Compromise was a provision in the United States Constitution that counted each enslaved individual as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of apportioning representation and taxation. The Thirteenth Amendment did not directly address or repeal this provision.
• Granted former slaves the right to vote: The Thirteenth Amendment primarily focused on the abolition of slavery and did not specifically grant voting rights to former slaves. Voting rights for African Americans were later addressed through the Fifteenth Amendment.
• Made slavery illegal in the United States: This answer is accurate. The Thirteenth Amendment declared slavery illegal in the United States.
• Provided land to former slaves: The Thirteenth Amendment did not provide land to former slaves. Land redistribution efforts were pursued separately during the Reconstruction era.
Based on this analysis, the correct answer is that the Thirteenth Amendment made slavery illegal in the United States.