150th Anniversary Of The Ratification Of The 13th Amendment Ending Slavery

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December 3, 2015 – Segment 2

On December 6, 1865 the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, officially ending the institution of slavery, was ratified. “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.” With these words, the single greatest change bought about from the Civil War was officially noted in the Constitution. The ratification came eight months after the end of the war, but it represented the culmination of a long struggle against slavery.

Joining guest host Dr. Kaye Whitehead to talk to us about these changes and about how far we need to go are: Dr. Joycelyn Moody, Sue E. Denman Distinguished Chair in American Literature at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where she teaches and researches 19th-century African American literature; and Dr. Treva Lindsey, Assistant Professor in the Department of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies at Ohio State University.