“The need for the amendment was obvious. Of the nation’s four million slaves at the outset of the war, no more than five hundred thousand were now [15 June 1854] free, and, to his disgust, many white Americans intended to have them reenslaved once the war was over.” American SlaveryEmancipation Proclamation201513th Amendment1854 Book:Who Freed the Slaves?: The Fight over the Thirteenth Amendment Source: Who Freed the Slaves?: The Fight over the Thirteenth Amendment