Ratified on December 6th, 1865, the 13th Amendment slavery and involuntary servitude - however, Black Codes, white supremacist violence, red lining, and other factors have worked to prevent persons of color from having equal status in the United States. The 13th Amendment, though, was the first of the Reconstruction Amendments that began to transform the United States from "half slave and half free" (as Abraham Lincoln put it) to one where constitutional guarantees would apply to all citizens.