Essay On The 13th Amendment

The thirteenth amendment to the United States Constitution changed our nation in a radical way. During the previous years, a path was carved to make way for a movement that would abolish slavery and change the United States’ culture. This amendment is a crucial and intriguing part of the Constitution, in fact- its original purpose was not to abolish slavery. The thirteenth amendment that was first passed in February of 1861 was to ensure that slavery would remain legal in the states. So, why did the original thirteenth amendment completely reverse its meaning? Many people debate that the true cause of the Civil War was slavery. Was it true that our nation was divided over a topic so, strongly, that it took thousands of people to give up …show more content…
Sanford case, which would create another reason on why slavery needed to be abolished. This event happened before the start of the Civil War, so it gave the north leverage on why we needed a ratification of the Constitution. Dred Scott was a slave who moved to a state that allowed slavery, from a state that did not allow slavery. He believed that he deserved the right to be a free slave now, to not be forced into slavery just because he moved into a slaveholding state. Scott brought this point up to the United States Supreme Court because he wanted to see and receive justice. It was a bold move by Scott since he was an african-american slave at that time to go against a federal court ruled by whites. However, he had the courage and passion to fight for the rights that he thought he was entitled to. Roger B. Tawney, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, disagreed strongly with Scott’s points and request. Tawney was strongly opposed to an abolitionist movement and believed that slavery was ethically and morally right. The final verdict in the case was that no slaves, even those who were free, would ever be granted citizenship and treated one hundred percent as an official United States