Andrew Johnson, Amnesty Proclamation, 29 May 1865
Whereas the President of the United States, on
the 8th day of December, A.D. eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and on
the 26 day of March, A.D. eighteen hundred and sixty-four, did, with the
object to suppress the existing rebellion, to induce all persons to return
to their loyalty, and to restore the authority of the United States, issue
proclamations offering amnesty and pardon to certain persons who had directly
or by implication participated in the said rebellion; and whereas many
persons who had so engaged in said rebellion have, since the issuance of
said proclamations, failed or neglected to take the benefits offered thereby;
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 hostility 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 upon the condition,
nevertheless, that every such person shall take and subscribe the following
oath, (or affirmation,) and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate;
and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and shall
be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:
I, _______ _______, do solemnly swear, (or affirm,)
in presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support,
protect, and 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 the emancipation of slaves.
So help me God.
The following classes of persons are excepted
from the benefits of this proclamation: 1st, all who are or shall
have been pretended civil or diplomatic officers or otherwise domestic
or foreign agents of the pretended Confederate government; 2nd, all who
left judicial stations under the United States to aid the rebellion; 3d,
all who shall have been military or naval officers of said pretended Confederate
government above the rank of colonel in the army or lieutenant in the navy;
4th, all who left seats in the Congress of the United States to aid the
rebellion; 5th, all who resigned or tendered resignations of their commissions
in the army or navy of the United States to evade duty in resisting the
rebellion; 6th, all who have engaged in any way in treating otherwise than
lawfully as prisoners of war persons found in the United States service,
as officers, soldiers, seamen, or in other capacities; 7th, all persons
who have been, or are absentees from the United States for the purpose
of aiding the rebellion; 8th, all military and naval officers in the rebel
service, who were educated by the government in the Military Academy at
West Point or the United States Naval Academy; 9th, all persons who held
the pretended offices of governors of States in insurrection against the
United States; 10th, all persons who left their homes within the jurisdiction
and protection of the United States, and passed beyond the Federal military
lines into the pretended Confederate States for the purpose of aiding the
rebellion; 11th, all persons who have been 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; 12th, 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 bonds of the civil, military, or naval authorities,
or agents of the United States as prisoners of war, or persons detained
for offenses of any kind, either before or after conviction; 13th, all
persons who have voluntarily participated in said rebellion, and the estimated
value of whose taxable property is over twenty thousand dollars; 14th,
all persons who have taken the oath of amnesty as prescribed in the President's
proclamation of December 8th, A.D. 1863, or an oath of allegiance to the
government of 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 its 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 affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, the twenty-ninth
day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five,
and of the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth.
ANDREW JOHNSON
By the President:
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State
SOURCE: Paul H. Bergeron, editor,
The Papers of Andrew Johnson, vol. 8, May-August 1865
(Knoxville: The University Press of Tennessee, 1989), pages 128-131.
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