The History Of Forced Prison Labor 

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery but left behind a perilous loophole. It reads, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime…shall exist within the United States.” This loophole became the foundation for forced prison labor.

Black Codes Laws 

Following the Civil War, lawmakers swiftly passed “Black Codes,” laws which the National Constitution center explains were “specifically designed to…restore much of the slave system that had existed prior to the war.” As the 2016 Netflix documentary 13th illustrates, these codes criminalized Black Americans for minor offenses. For example, “vagrancy” laws allowed for a person’s arrest if they were unemployed and did not have a permanent residence. 

The Result?

This funneled Black individuals into the prison system, where they were leased to private companies–a practice that Ellen Terrell author of a 2021 article for the library of Congress, calls “convict leasing.”

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