The 13th Amendment - The end of slavery?

 The 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865. 

This amendment states that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Although this meant that all slaves were freed from ownership, this did not mean they were granted citizenship. They were denied basic freedoms and struggled against racist laws. Newly freed African Americans couldn't vote, weren't allowed in schools, and were denied most housing. Jim Crow laws segregated blacks in all public places in previously confederate states. All of problems for "free" black people caused much violence and death against them. The 13th amendment didn't create freedom for African Americans, it just ended TRADITIONAL slavery.

Despite all of this new change going all around, the question on most southern landowners' minds is, "Who is going to work in our fields now?". The answer to that question and southern plantation owners' saving grace was IMMIGRANT WORKERS. Specifically, "coolie" workers who could work the same jobs as the previous slaves through kidnapping, trafficking, and exploitation. 

What is a "Coolie"?

A "coolie" is an offensive and dated term to describe an unskilled immigrant worker from Asia (including India, China, and more countries). These workers were used during the transition of slave labor to free labor during America's reconstruction period after slavery was abolished. They were also used in Cuba, Spain, and other countries as well. "Between 1847 and 1874, about 125, 000 Chinese men were taken to Havana through a transnational mass-migration business venture, to work mostly on sugar cane plantations, providing reinforcements to African labor while slavery was being "gradually abolished."(Gines-Blasi 3) The trafficking of these laborers was known as the "coolie trade" as was similar to the chattel slavery trade.