Did the 13th amendment truly intend to abolish slavery?

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – As people across the country celebrated Juneteenth, some question whether or not lawmakers in 1865 actually intended to abolish enslavement.

Juneteenth commemorates the day (June 19th, 1865) Union soldiers made it to Galveston, Texas, to inform the last group of enslaved people that they had been freed under President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, which had been made 2 1/2 years earlier.

Saint Francis Episcopal Church for the Highlands hosted a presentation and panel discussion on June 19th, titled “Unveiling the True Intent of the 13th Amendment.” The event was hosted by Dillard University Center for Racial Justice and presented by legal researcher Hersy Jones.

The text of the 13th Amendment, which was ratified in December of 1865, states: “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.”

Jones says allowing involuntary servitude as punishment was intended to keep black people enslaved.

“The senator who wrote the language, he deliberately picked language that would allow for the re-enslavement of African Americans through the criminal justice system,” said Jones. “So, people have noted that, but they didn’t know if it was intentional or if was accidental. Well, what our research shows is they already knew that and he deliberately picked that language and misled the senate on what the effect of the language would be.”

Jones says he has been researching for more than three years and plans to tour the country discussing his findings. He plans presentations with the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington, D.C., and the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.