With the passage of the 13th Amendment—which states that “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”—the central contradiction at the heart of the Founding was resolved.
While many nation-builders and citizens supported rights and the rule of law as a bedrock of their nations, expansion entailed taking away the rights of others.
