With the exception of cases of peonage, beyond the period of Reconstruction, the federal government took almost no action to enforce the 13th Amendment until December 1941 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt summoned his attorney general.
Kecuali dalam kasus-kasus peonase, Pemerintahan Federal hampir tidak bertindak apa-apa di luar masa Rekonstruksi dalam menerapkan Amendemen Ketigabelas sampai bulan Desember 1941 ketika Presiden Franklin Delano Roosevelt memanggil jaksa agungnya.