The 13th Amendment

A political cartoon of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, displaying how the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were attempting to mend and repair the United States.

AMENDMENT XIII

Section 1.
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.

Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.

The Emancipation Proclamation, issued in 1863 by President Lincoln, declared that slaves in the southern, seceded states were permanently free, and also changed the purpose of the Civil War from being about preserving the Union to being about ending slavery and granting the slaves freedom. However, the Emancipation Proclamation itself did not end slavery, and most likely would not have been a legally acceptable way of abolishing slavery after the Civil War had ended. Thus the 13th Amendment was passed, and ended slavery for good. So, the Emancipation Proclamation set all the then-current slaves free, but was not a solution to abolish slavery completely, which is why the 13th Amendment was needed as a constitutional law to rid slavery in the United States permanently. 

Sources:

www.ourdocuments.gov, Transcript of 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865) This source is where I found the actual text of the 13th Amendment, as well as the date that it was ratified.

www.ourdocuments.gov, 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865), Document Info This source is where I found a general explanation of when, why, and how the 13th Amendment came about, especially as related to the Emancipation Proclamation.

History.com, Emancipation Proclamation This source is where I found a detailed series of events that led up to 
and caused the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment to be written.