![]() ![]() Many of these prisons were built on old plantation land, and some even continued the tradition by being named after the plantation that they were built on. The demand for prisons continued to rise as the number of people charged with crimes increased in the South. The ruling legitimized the notion that incarceration is merely another form of slavery, but one that the general public is much more comfortable with or is unaware of altogether.Īdditionally, Southern states also began creating large prisons during this time in order to house the growing population of incarcerated people. Commonwealth declared that incarcerated people were legally indistinguishable from enslaved people, or, to quote the court, “slaves of the state.” This practice became the law in 1871 when the Virginia Supreme Court in Ruffin v. Thus, incarcerated people were soon being systematically exploited for their labor. The resulting increase in incarcerated Black people proliferated the market for convict leasing, a system in which southern states contracted their prison populations to outside industries at a price. Actions like “mischief” and “insulting gestures” were criminalized and widely enforced throughout the country, especially in the South. Throughout the second half of the 19th century, laws were created that were specifically meant to target Black people. While many agree now that the enslavement and bondage of human beings is immoral, unethical and against American democratic values, many are unaware of the forms slavery takes in today’s society and the institutions and practices that are its direct descendants. Through the rise of laws targeting Black Americans and en masse conviction, Black Americans have been disproportionately incarcerated and oppressed by the carceral system. The 13th Amendment has been used to force incarcerated people in the United States to participate in labor and other arduous tasks against their will. “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”Īlthough many celebrated the abolition of slavery, the 13th Amendment created an exception to allow slavery to continue by other means. Constitution was ratified, the text of which stated that: On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. The development of the prison industrial complex between government and industry, forces many state organizations, public institutions, and universities to utilize the “services” of prison-made goods.īackground: Tracing Modern-Day Slavery to the 13th Amendment Incarcerated Americans have been deemed “slaves of the state” which led to the current situation for incarcerated Americans, including the loss of constitutional and voting rights, egregious underpayment for labor, prevention from unionizing, and the list goes on. Constitution and has created a system of slavery that we are more comfortable with. Because of a loophole in the Thirteenth Amendment, Black Americans have historically and presently been subjected to structural disadvantages that reinforce cheap labor from the vestiges of slavery. ![]() Modern-day prison labor in the United States is rooted in the Thirteenth Amendment of the U.S. ![]()
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