Does Slavery Still Exist Essay

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Even though the 13th Amendment states that slavery shall not exist, due to convict leasing, debt peonage, and prison labor, involuntary bondage still remains present today. In 1865, the 13th Amendment declared “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (13th Amendment, 1865). This Amendment supposedly abolished slavery, however people still were forced into labor back then and up to today. One way slavery remained was through convict leasing. Convict leasing was when convicts were loaned to companies for their labor. The prisoners were forced to work in brutal conditions enduring …show more content…

Calling slavery another name doesn’t change the fact that it still exists and is as horrible as ever. Another way slavery still existed after the 13th Amendment was through debt peonage, which occured when a black man was falsely accused and quickly convicted, and then couldn’t pay the court fines. A white man would pay them and then cause the black man to be in debt to him. Contracts were signed that said the white men could torture the black men and keep them for as long as they thought necessary to pay off the debt (Slavery by Another Name). This demonstrates how slavery still existed because of the way black-americans were very easily convicted and used for their labor. The 13th Amendment didn’t end slavery because people found a loophole which allowed them to use involuntary bondage as punishment for a crime. A final way slavery continued was through prison labor, which is like a modern day equivalent of convict leasing. Today prisoners are forced to work for as little as 17 cents an hour in horrible conditions with brutality by the police (The New Jim Crow). This reveals how today slavery is still very much present, without many people

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