Which amendment abolished slavery in the United States?

• A. 13th Amendment
• B. 14th Amendment
• C. 15th Amendment
• D. 12th Amendment

Answer: (A)

A nationwide end to slavery is guaranteed by the thirteenth amendment. It directly outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States and its territories, with the lone exception that punishment for a crime after a legal conviction is allowed. This makes it the direct and lasting solution to abolish slavery across the entire country, not just in certain states or during a particular moment.

Context helps: the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 freed enslaved people in rebel states, but it wasn’t universal or permanent. The thirteenth amendment solidified abolition nationwide and gave the federal government authority to enforce the ban. The other amendments address different issues—citizenship and equal protection (fourteenth), voting rights regardless of race (fifteenth), and rules about electing the president and vice president (twelfth)—so they do not establish abolition.