<P> It was a form of bondage distinctly different from that of the antebellum South in that for most men, and the relatively few women drawn in, this slavery did not last a lifetime and did not automatically extend from one generation to the next . But it was nonetheless slavery--a system in which armies of free men, guilty of no crimes and entitled by law to freedom, were compelled to labor without compensation, were repeatedly bought and sold, and were forced to do the bidding of white masters through the regular application of extraordinary physical coercion . </P> <P> U.S. Steel is among American companies who have acknowledged using African - American leased convict labor . The practice peaked around 1880, was formally outlawed by the last state (Alabama) in 1928, and persisted in various forms until it was abolished by President Franklin D. Roosevelt via Francis Biddle's "Circular 3591" of December 12, 1941 . </P> <P> Convict leasing in the United States began during the Reconstruction Period (1865--1877) after the end of the Civil War, when many southern legislatures were ruled by majority coalitions of blacks and Radical Republicans, and Union generals acted as military governors . Farmers and businessmen needed to find replacements for the labor force once their slaves had been freed . Some southern legislatures passed Black Codes to restrict free movement of blacks and force them into employment with whites . If convicted of vagrancy, blacks could be imprisoned, and they also received sentences for a variety of petty offenses . States began to lease convict labor to the plantations and other facilities seeking labor, as the freedmen were trying to withdraw and work for themselves . This provided the states with a new source of revenue during years when they were financially strapped, and lessees profited by the use of forced labor at below market rates . </P> <P> Essentially, both black legislators and whites in the criminal justice system colluded with private planters and other business owners to entrap, convict, and lease blacks as prison laborers . The constitutional basis for convict leasing is that the 1865 Thirteenth Amendment, while abolishing slavery and involuntary servitude generally, permits it as a punishment for crime . </P>

What role did convict leasing play in the south after emancipation
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