The 13th Amendment is the change of constitution through the house of the representatives in the year 1865 abolishing the act of slavery and forced servitude except for punishment for crime which was subject to the law and judicial process. The amendment was declared as a protector of the African American people who were the major victims of slavery and forced labor. The amendment was a strategy by the then president of the United States of America Abraham Lincoln to win the civil war against the confederation rebellion and make sure that the rights of all the American citizens were well covered by the constitution of the land. The thirteenth amendment was a relief to those Americans who were held in slavery as they were forever declared free and guaranteed their freedom by the constitution. This created an impact to the American society and affected or influenced the social, political and economic organization of the American society.
First the amendment influenced the coming of the 14th and 15th amendments which gave the African Americans the right to citizenship and the right to vote consecutively. This was as a result of the slave abolishment and now the society had new people who had no identification, jobs, education and even shelter. Therefore the 14th and 15th amendments were to empower the former slaves and their children to blend in the society and become active participants of the social, political and economic being of the society.
The 14th amendment was a guarantee to the African Americans to access quality education as fellow Americans did hence as they became enlightened and literate, they also became aware of community organization and their history as well. This helped them fight for more rights and cement their position in the American society politics. Over the time America has seen and experienced the rise of African American leaders who have shaken the status quo of the traditional America. The example of Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X and President Barrack Obama were the impact of the 13th amendment which have enabled this activists and leaders make an impact in the society as well realize their personal dreams as American citizens.
The 13th amendment gave an equal opportunity to all the Americans of living a prosperous life where they can achieve their personal dreams. In the corporate America, there are good numbers of African Americans who are making an impact in the society and in the world as well due to the opportunity the 13th amendment guaranteed them. Prior to the modern society, there were more African American people who got the opportunity to influence the society in different levels; for example Frederick Douglass who wrote literary work which painted a picture of what slavery meant to the African American people and how it affected them.
The fact that the African American people got educated, have the ability to run their own businesses and being in a position to be employed means that they become active in the American economy where they earn a wage to support their lives as well as pay taxes to the American government. In the society where the government increases and empowers its people to earn a wage and pay their taxes means the number of revenue collected keeps on increasing. Over the time the majority of African Americans have organized themselves to make sure they sensitize the African American society of the need to be educated as well as the need to earn a wage to support their lives, this ensures that their families are well taken care of and are actively contributing to the economy.
The abolition of slavery led to the creation of more job opportunities in America for both African Americans and the White Americans who were jobless since the lands where the African American people used to work without wages became a vacant job opportunity. Those farms that were unable or could not afford paying their own farm workers were forced to sell off their land to those who could manage the farms better and employ more people. This opened doors for many lives improvement as those who could not earn had an opportunity to earn.
The slaves, who were freed, formed their own community which organized itself accordingly and depending on their taste and preference of running their own agenda and affairs. This meant that there was an emergent of a new market which had thirst and desire for products which were customized to their own taste and preferences. The entrepreneurs found a new agenda of developing these products which would satisfy the needs of the new market hence translated to the creation and building of new industries which manufactured the products needed. In return to manufacturing these products, the industries created more job opportunities to the American society and in the long run increased the government revenue collection.
Socially, the amendments led to the American people start viewing each other as equals and every group that felt oppressed requested for a their civil rights. This is after the African American people were given their civil rights of voting through the 15th amendment. It influenced other races and tribes to fight for their civil rights as the abolishment of slavery removed the prior image set as the ‘black’ people are lesser humans than the ‘white’ people and did not deserve any rights. The women too were not left behind as the feminism movements continued to fight for the rights of women in general as an inspiration from the 13th amendment.
Although the amendment helped end slavery, it did not end the racial hatred which existed between the African Americans and the perceived ‘white’ people of America. The rights given to the freed slaves were limited in various ways as some of their former masters were controllers of the government agenda. The hatred is inherited from years to years and even translated to the children in the education sector. Each race strives to protect their beliefs and entitlements. The African Americans feel entitled to their rights as American citizens while the ‘white’ Americans feel entitled to the nation as those who have developed it to be what it is in the modern day. The racial hatred is also translated in the career environments where the promotions and employments are offered depending on the race that is in charge instead of the normal merit based career progression. It is also perceived by the African Americans who play victims to the police brutality that the American police view each African America as a criminal and whenever they cross lanes the police shoot to kill them. The African Americans view this as racial hatred by the ‘white’ police officers.
The establishment of the African American communities commonly known to them as the ‘hoods’ led to the establishment of new societal problem. Most of the drug dealers started targeting the young men and women of the African American communities to sell drugs to them. Over the time, due to lack of proper guidelines and mentorship to African American youths, most of them are drowning in the drug and substance addiction problem. This is majorly caused also by the lack of formal employment which causes idleness, desperation and depression. In the long run, most of these youths now engage in drug trafficking cartels which are established on the basis of survival for the strongest in terms of illegal weapons to kill rival cartels and to fight the police. This has led to most members of the African American community losing their lives to the drug violence and menace. Others become addicts of this drugs and substance and because of desperation to earn a living they are attracted to crime of stealing and smuggling which lead to them being murdered by the police or thrown in jail hence a high population of African American people in the prisons.
In the development sector, the 13th amendment lead to a slow growth and development of the American Economy as the agricultural sector highly depended on the existence of the slavery. For instance the cotton sector which was supplied with cheap labor from slaves deteriorated because of the slave abolishment. The cotton farmers could not get cheap labor as they used to and hence some stopped farming and others reduced their faming. In the long run the cotton sector which formed the largest percentage of the American export reduced and in return reduced the amount of foreign exchange earned by the government as revenue. Also the building sector largely depended on the slave labor and it abolition meant the industry had to outsource labor somewhere else or get the expensive one which in return led to the cost of building being high. The South of America where most of the farms which depended on slavery are situated, when slave trade was abolished, the freed slaves moved to the north side of America and due to the closure of most farms because of lack of labor, the southern states ended up printing more currency which led to inflation and finally the southern region ended up in huge dept.
Culturally, the amendment has led to multicultural marriages where the African Americans get married to the white and vice versa. This has led to the cropping up of a new colored race which is not white or black. The race is perceived to be a bridge between the racial hatred. Therefore in a way the amendment led to the bridging of the gap between the races which could not interact with each other to a point of now marrying each other and forming a multiracial family.
In conclusion, the amendment can be said to be a root of very many problems in the American society that disturbed the status quo of the existence of the nation but in a way has positively affected the American society. On the other side, other than slavery being an act of brutality, its abolishment disturbed the normal running of the society highly affected it socially, economically and politically.