|
Records of the Assistant
Commissioner for the State of Arkansas
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, 1865 - 1869
National Archives Microfilm Publication M979 Roll 52
"Miscellaneous Records 1865 - 1868"
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of
America
Whereas - The President of the United States on the
8th day of December 1863, and on the 26th day of March 1864, did
with the object of suppressing the existing rebellion, to induce all persons to return to
their loyalty, and to restore the authority of the United States, issue a proclamation
offering amnesty and pardon to certain persons who had directly, or by implication,
engaged in the said rebellion, and
Whereas, many persons who have been justly deprived
of all claim to amnesty and pardon thereunder, by reason of their participation directly
or by implication in said rebellion and continued hostilities to the Government of the
United States since the date of said proclamation now desire to apply for and obtain
amnesty and pardon;
To the end, therefore, that the authority of the Government
of the United States may be restored and that peace, order and freedom may be established,
I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do proclaim and declare that I hereby
grant to all persons who have directly or indirectly participated in the existing
rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, amnesty and pardon with restoration of all
rights of property, except as to slaves, and except in cases where legal proceedings under
the laws of the United States, providing for the confiscation of property of persons
engaged in rebellion have been instituted, but on the condition, nevertheless, that every
such person shall take and subscribe the following, which shall be registered for
permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:
I do solemnly swear or affirm in the presence of Almighty
God that I will hereafter faithfully defend the Constitution of the United States and the
Union of the States thereunder, and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully
support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with
reference to emancipation of slaves. So help me God.
The following classes of people are excepted from the
benefits of this proclamation:
First - All who are or shall have been pretended
civil or diplomatic officers or otherwise domestic or foreign agents of the pretended
Confederate Government.
Second - All who left judicial stations under the
United States to aid the rebellion.
Third - All who shall have been military or naval
officers of said pretended Confederate Government above the rank of Colonel in the Army
and Lieutenant in the Navy.
Fourth - All who left seats in the Congress of the
United States to aid the rebellion.
Fifth - All who resigned or tendered resignations of
their commissions in the Army and Navy of the United States, to evade the duty in
resisting the rebellion.
Sixth - All who have engaged, in any way, in
treating otherwise than lawfully, as prisoners of war, persons found in the United States
services as officers, soldiers, seamen, or in other capacities.
Seventh - All persons who have been, or are,
absentees from the United States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion.
Eighth - All military or naval officers in the rebel
service who were educated by the Government in the Military Academy at West Point, and at
the United States Naval Academy.
Ninth - All persons who held the pretended office of
the Governor of States in insurrection against the United States.
Tenth - All persons who left their homes within the
jurisdiction and protection of the United States, and passed beyond the Federal Military
lines into the so called Confederate States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion.
Eleventh - All persons who have engaged in the
destruction of the commerce of the United States upon the high seas, and all persons who
have made raids into the United States from Canada, or been engaged in destroying the
commerce of the United States upon the lakes and rivers that separate the British
Provinces from the United States.
Twelfth - All persons who at the time when they seek
to obtain the benefits hereof by taking the oath herein prescribed are in military, naval
or civil confinement or custody, or under bond of military or naval authorities, or agents
of the United States as prisoners of war, or persons obtained for offences of any kind,
either before or after the conviction.
Thirteenth - All persons who have voluntarily
participated in said rebellion and the estimated value of whose property is over $20,000.
Fourteenth - All persons who have taken the Oath of
Amnesty as prescribed in the President's proclamation of Dec. 8th, 1863 or the
Oath of Allegiance to the United States, since the date of said proclamation and who have
not thenceforward kept and maintained the same inviolate.
Provided - That special application may be made to
the President for pardon by any person belonging to the excepted classes, and such
clemency will be liberally extended as may be consistent with the facts of the case and
the peace and dignity of the United States.
The Secretary of State will establish rules and regulations
for administering and recording the said Amnesty Oath so as to insure the benefit to the
people, and guard the Government against fraud.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused
the seal of the United States to be fixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this 29th day of
May A. D. 1865, and of the Independence of the United States the 89th.
(sgd) Andrew Johnson
By the President
(sgd) Wm. H. Seward, Secy. of State
|