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ing to the constitution and laws thereof, was held therein on

said day: Therefore,

Be it resolved . . That the states mentioned in the preamble to this joint resolution are not entitled to representation in the electoral college for the choice of President and Vice-President of the United States, for the term of office commencing on the fourth day of March, eighteen hundred and sixty-five; and no electoral votes shall be received or counted from said states concerning the choice of President and Vice-President for said term of office.

APPROVED, February 8, 1865.

No. 44.

Freedmen's Bureau

March 3, 1865

A BILL "to establish a bureau of emancipation" was reported in the House, December 22, 1863, by Eliot of Massachusetts, from the Select Committee on Emancipation, and recommitted. The bill was reported with amendments January 13, 1864, and March I passed the House by a vote of 69 to 67. In the Senate the bill was referred to the Select Committee on Slavery and Freedmen, of which Sumner was chairman. A bill to establish a bureau of freedmen was reported from the committee April 12. May 25 the committee reported the House bill with a substitute amendment, and the bill thus amended passed the Senate June 29 by a vote of 21 to 9. The select committee of the House recommended that the amendments of the Senate be disagreed to. Further action was postponed until December. December 20 a conference committee was appointed. The report of the committee was accepted by the House, February 9, 1865, by a vote of 64 to 62, 56 not voting, but rejected by the Senate on the 22d by a vote of 14 to 24. March 3 the report of a second conference committee was agreed to by both houses. REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIII, 507-509. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., 1st and 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. On the work of the bureau see Senate Exec. Doc. 28, 38th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Exec. Docs. 11, 70, and 120, 39th Cong., Ist Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 7, 39th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Report 30, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 329, ibid.; House Exec. Doc. 142, 41st Cong., 2d

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Sess.; House Misc. Doc. 87, 42d Cong., 3d Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 10, 43d Cong., 1st Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 144, 44th Cong., Ist Sess. On the condition of freedmen see Senate Exec. Doc. 53, and Senate Report 25, 38th Cong., 1st Sess.; House Exec. Doc. 118, 39th Cong., Ist Sess. Southern State legislation respecting freedmen is summarized in McPherson, Reconstruction, 29-44. See also Cox, Three Decades, chap. 25.

An Act to establish a Bureau for the Relief of Freedmen and Refugees.

Be it enacted. That there is hereby established in the War Department, to continue during the present war of rebellion, and for one year thereafter, a bureau of refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands, to which shall be committed, as hereinafter provided, the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relating to refugees and freedmen from rebel states, or from any district of country within the territory embraced in the operations of the army, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the head of the bureau and approved by the President. The said bureau shall be under the management and control of a commissioner to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, And the commissioner and all persons appointed under this act, shall, before entering upon their duties, take the oath of office prescribed in . . . [the act of July 2, 1862].

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SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations as he may direct.

SEC. 3. And be it further enacted, That the President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an assistant commissioner for each of the states declared to be in insurrection, not exceeding ten in number, who shall, under the direction of the commissioner, aid in the execution of the provi

sions of this act ;... And any military officer may be detailed and assigned to duty under this act without increase of pay or allowances. The commissioner shall, before the commencement of each regular session of congress, make full report of his proceedings with exhibits of the state of his accounts to the President, who shall communicate the same to congress, and shall also make special reports whenever required to do so by the President or either house of congress; and the assistant commissioners shall make quarterly reports of their proceedings to the commissioner, and also such other special reports as from time to time may be required.

SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioner, under the direction of the President, shall have authority to set apart, for the use of loyal refugees and freedmen, such tracts of land within the insurrectionary states as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation or sale, or otherwise, and to every male citizen, whether refugee or freedman, as aforesaid, there shall be assigned not more than forty acres of such land, and the person to whom it was so assigned shall be protected in the use and enjoyment of the land for the term of three years at an annual rent not exceeding six per centum upon the value of such land, as it was appraised by the state authorities in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, for the purpose of taxation, and in case no such appraisal can be found, then the rental shall be based upon the estimated value of the land in said year, to be ascertained in such manner as the commissioner may by regulation prescribe. At the end of said term, or at any time during said term, the occupants of any parcels so assigned may purchase the land and receive such title thereto as the United States can convey, upon paying therefor the value of the land, as ascertained and fixed for the purpose of determining the annual rent aforesaid.

SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed.

APPROVED, March 3, 1865.

No. 45. Freedom for Soldiers' Families

March 3, 1865

A BILL to secure the freedom of soldiers' families was introduced in the Senate, December 13, 1864, by Wilson of Massachusetts, and passed that body January 9, 1865, notwithstanding strong opposition, by a vote of 27 to IO. The vote in the House, February 22, on the passage of the bill was 74 to 63, 45 not voting.

REFERENCES. - Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIII, 571. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 38th Cong., 2d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. The important debate was in the Senate.

A Resolution to encourage Enlistments and to promote the Efficiency of the military Forces of the United States.

Resolved..., That, for the purpose of encouraging enlistments and promoting the efficiency of the military and naval forces of the United States, it is hereby enacted that the wife and children, if any he have, of any person that has been, or may be, mustered into the military or naval service of the United States, shall, from and after the passage of this act, be forever free, any law, usage, or custom whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding; and in determining who is or was the wife and who are the children of the enlisted person herein mentioned, evidence that he and the woman claimed to be his wife have cohabited together, or associated as husband and wife, and so continued to cohabit or associate at the time of the enlistment, or evidence that a form or ceremony of marriage, whether such marriage was or was not authorized or recognized by law, has been entered into or celebrated by them, and that the parties thereto thereafter lived together, or associated or cohabited as husband and wife, and so continued to live, cohabit, or associate at the time of the enlistment, shall be deemed sufficient proof of marriage for the purposes of this act, and the children born of any such marriage shall be deemed and taken to be the children embraced within the provisions of this act, whether such marriage shall or shall not have been dissolved at the time of such enlistment.

APPROVED, March 3, 1865.

No. 46. Proclamation of Amnesty

REFERENCES.

May 29, 1865

- Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XIII, 758-760. For lists of pardons granted by Johnson see House Exec. Doc. 99, 39th Cong., Ist Sess.; ibid. 31 and 116, 39th Cong., 2d Sess.; ibid. 32, 40th Cong., 1st Sess., and ibid. 16, 40th Cong., 2d Sess.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

A PROCLAMATION.

(After a reference to the amnesty proclamations of December 8, 1863, and March 26, 1864, the proclamation grants amnesty to all persons who have participated in the existing rebellion, subject to the exceptions indicated, and on condition of taking and subscribing the following oath :)

"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:

Ist. All who are or shall have been pretended civil or diplomatic officers, or otherwise domestic or foreign agents, of the pretended confederate government;

2d. 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;

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