The ( Enmienda XIII ) to the U.S. Constitution, ratified on December 6, 1865 , is the landmark legal provision that formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. Core Provisions The amendment consists of two critical sections:

: It was the first of the three "Reconstruction Amendments" (13th, 14th, and 15th) adopted after the Civil War to protect the rights of newly freed African Americans.

: While the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed enslaved people in Confederate-held territory, the 13th Amendment was necessary to make abolition a permanent, national policy applicable to all states, including loyal border states.