Question

What history and events led to the 13th amendment's ratification?

Answer 1

I just need a short list of maybe two or three events that I can write about

Answer 2

Perhaps this will help? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

Answer 3

First you should know what it is....

Google:
The 13th Amendment to the Constitution declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Answer 4

so you could talk about...
The civil war wasn't originally about the moral issues with slavery. It was more about money and power.
For instance, the South wanted to use the slaves to artificially raise voting numbers in their favor.
This resulted in the 3/5 compromise, which made a black person's vote worth 3/5 of a normal citizen's vote.
The North did not want the South to use slaves to give themselves more voting power.

For those reasons and several others, the Civil War happened and eventually the
The Emancipation Proclamation