Though the amendment formally abolished slavery throughout the United States, factors such as Black Codes, white supremacist violence, and selective enforcement of statutes continued to subject some black Americans to involuntary labor, particularly in the South.
虽然修正案正式废除了全美各地的奴隶制，但诸如黑人法令、白人至上主义者的暴力行为和选择性执法导致非裔美国人继续受到强制劳役，这类情况又尤以南方州为甚。