13th Amendment Causes

After the American Civil War, President Lincoln passed the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments in hopes that it would assimilate African Americans into society (Byington, 2016). Even though the 13th Amendment is less applicable to later controversies than its counterparts, the 13th Amendment has the greatest impact on post-Civil War America. It abolished slavery, influenced the economy, and it began the progress of what would become the civil rights movement in America.
One of the main causes of the Civil War was slavery, which the 13th amendment ended. Before the Civil War, however, slavery had been instrumental to the rise of capitalist industry in North America and Europe (Slavery in America, 2013). The south produced over half of the world’s
Many job opportunities opened up for people because of the lack of slaves. Without slaves, many plantation owners had to hire in order to keep up with the demands. This led to people of all races finding employment in the form of agriculture (Economic Impact, 2013). Many former-slaves opened their own plantations in hopes of starting a new life; however, many had to barter in order to get started. This led to sharecropping and tenant farming, which allowed former-slave owners to use unfair interest rates to keep African Americans as “land-slaves.” Unfortunately this resulted in a cashless society and hurt farmers because of low commodity prices (Byington, 2016). The remaining African Americans who chose to leave the South went north because of job opportunities. This led to an overpopulated northern society and, as a result, led to unsanitary conditions and the formation of ghettos (Byington, 2016). Overall, the United States' economy was at an all time low and many countries questioned whether or not to continue trade with them. With slavery outlawed, the United States lost the revenue from the slave trade and the ability to exploit the selling of slaves. The United States wouldn't recover from this financial struggle until the end of World War