I'm not sure I follow, it sounds to me like you're agreeing with GP. Slavery overall was status quo. America passed an amendment to end slavery, but added some

I'm not sure I follow, it sounds to me like you're agreeing with GP. Slavery overall was status quo. America passed an amendment to end slavery, but added some exceptions to preserve slave labor for criminals, because as you state: > the states passing the amendment were interested in getting rid of commercial slavery as it existed in the south, not throwing a wrench into their own prison systems They wanted to end the subset of slavery that was practiced in the South without ending slavery overall.