Even while the Civil War was in
progress, the
federal government offered amnesty to
Confederate
citizens in an
attempt to encourage loyalty to the
Union and to
begin the process of reconstruction. The
Confiscation Act of 1862
authorized the president of the United
States to
pardon anyone involved in the rebellion.
The Amnesty
Proclamation
of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to
those who
had not held a Confederate civil office,
had not
mistreated Union
prisoners, and would sign an oath of
allegiance.
Another limited amnesty that targeted
Southern
civilians came into
effect on May 26, 1864.
On April 9th 1865, when General Robert
E. Lee
surrendered his Army of Northern
Virginia to General
Ulysses S. Grant,
the men and officers were allowed to
return to
their homes, not to be disturbed by
United States
authority so long
as they observe their paroles and the
laws in force
where they may reside. This stipulation
allowed
Confederate
soldiers to return to their homes
without the
threat of trials for treason.
On May 29, 1865, President Andrew
Johnson provided
for amnesty and the return of property
to those who
would take an
oath of allegiance. However, former
Confederate
government officials, officers with the
rank of
colonel and above
from the Confederate army or lieutenant
and above
from the Confederate navy, and people
owning more
than $20,000
worth of property had to apply for
individual
pardons. Though it was difficult for
ex-Confederates
to ask for a pardon
for something they did not believe had
been wrong,
thousands did ask for and receive
amnesty from
President Johnson.
On Christmas Day 1868, Johnson granted
an
unconditional pardon to all Civil War
participants
except high-ranking military
and civil officials. In May 1872 the
Congressional
Amnesty Act gave the right to hold
office again to
almost all
Southern leaders who had been excluded
from public
office by the 14th Amendment.
----------------------
14TH AMENDMENT
- Section 1.
- All persons born
or
naturalized in the United States, and
subject to the
jurisdiction thereof,
are citizens of the United states and
of the State
wherein they reside. No State shall make
or enforce
any law which
shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of
citizens of the United States; nor shall
any State
deprive any person
of life, liberty or property, without
due process
of law; nor deny to any person within
its
jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.
- Section 2.
- Representatives shall
be
apportioned among the several States
according to
their respective numbers,
counting the whole number of persons in
each state,
excluding Indians not taxed. But when
the right to
vote at any
election for the choice of electors for
President
and Vice President of the United States,
Representatives in Congress,
the executive and judicial officers of
a State, or
the members of the legislature thereof,
is denied to
any of the
male inhabitants of such state, being
twenty-one
years of age and citizens of the United
States, or
in any way
abridged, except for participation in
rebellion, or
other crime, the basis of representation
therein
shall be
reduced in the proportion which the
number of such
male citizens shall bear to the whole
number of male
citizens
twenty-one years of age in such State.
- Section 3.
- No person shall be a
Senator or
Representative in Congress, or elector
of President
and Vice
President, or hold any office, civil or
military,
under the United States, or under any
State, who,
having
previously taken an oath, as a member
of Congress,
or as an officer of the United States,
or as a
member of any
State legislature, or as a executive or
judicial
office of any State, to support the
Constitution of
the United
States, shall have engaged in
insurrection or
rebellion against the same, or give aid
or comfort
to the enemies
thereof. But Congress may by a vote of
two-thirds
of each House remove such disability.
- Section 4.
- The validity of the
public debt of
the United States, authorized by law,
including
debts incurred
for payment of pensions and bounties
for services
in suppressing insurrection or
rebellion, shall not
be questioned.
But neither the United States nor any
State shall
assume or pay any debt or obligation
incurred in aid
of
insurrection or rebellion against the
United
States, or any claim for the loss or
emancipation of
any slave; but all
such debts, obligations and claims
shall be held
illegal and void.
- Section 5.
- The Congress shall
have power to
enforce, by appropriate legislation, the
provisions
of this article.
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