Section 1. 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. Section 1. 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.
It's amazing how such a short, seemingly benign paragraph has had such a monumental impact on the United States for 150 years. The other thing that is striking is that this topics is only marginally discussed, and not only that, but prisoners are spoken of in such derogatory terms such as "do the crime, do the time", that prisoners are dehumanized to the extent that many people wouldn't bat an eye at the treatment of inmates as modern day slavery. They deserved it, right?