Juvenile convicts at work in the fields

Photographer: Unknown. Date Created: c1903.

Citation: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540

Although many people think that the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, there was an exception that was utilized to establish a system of forced labor in the southern states after the Civil War called jail convict leasing. African Americans' life were governed by Black Codes, and those involved in the legal system frequently received convictions for minor offenses like trespassing on private property, loitering, and food theft. Professional crime fighters who were paid for each "criminal" they apprehended were frequently the ones making the arrests, and they frequently multiplied as the need for labor rose.

When people couldn't afford their legal expenses, even those who were found innocent in court were frequently put into this system. In exchange for the use of inmates' labor on farms, in mines, in industrial plants, factories, railroads, and road construction, businesses and individuals paid leasing fees to state, county, and local governments. The prisoner leasing fees persisted into World War II and contributed significantly to the finances of southern states, counties, and localities.

Read The Convict Leasing System

Citation: Ellen Terrell he Convict Leasing System: Slavery in its Worst Aspects, Library of Congress Blogs