Page images
PDF
EPUB

No. 28. Emancipation Proclamation

January 1, 1863

A DRAFT of an emancipation proclamation was read to the Cabinet by Lincoln, July 22, 1862, but at Seward's suggestion the paper was laid aside until an important Union victory should have been won. The desired victory came at Antietam, September 16–17. A preliminary proclamation was issued September 22, and the definitive one January 1, 1863. December 15, in the House, a resolution declaring that the proclamation of September 22 “is warranted by the Constitution," and that the policy of emancipation was well chosen as a war measure, and is an exercise of power with proper regard for the rights of the States and the perpetuity of free government," was adopted by a vote of 78 to 51.

66

REFERENCES.-Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 1268, 1269. Various resolutions submitted in the House and Senate are collected in McPherson, Rebellion, 209-233; on Fremont's proclamation of August 31, 1861, see ibid., 245-247. On the general subject see Adams, Charles Francis Adams, chap. 16; Morse, Lincoln, II, chaps. 1, 4; McCall, Thaddeus Stevens, chap. 12; Storey, Sumner, chap. 12; John Sherman, Recollections, I, chap. 14; Nicolay and Hay, Lincoln, VI, chaps. 6, 8, 9; Rhodes, United States, IV, 69-72, 157-163, 212–219; Dunning, Essays, 49–56; Garrisons' Garrison, IV, chap. 3; House Exec. Doc. 72, 37th Cong., 3d Sess.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

WHEREAS, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing, among other things, the following, to wit:

"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any state or designated part of a state, the peoplę whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever, free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the

freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for

their actual freedom.

"That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the states and parts of states, if any, in which the people thereof, respectively, shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any state, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such states shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such state, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States."

Now, therefore, I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the states and parts of states wherein the people thereof, respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:

Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the city of New Orleans,) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth,) and which

excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.

And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated states and parts of states are, and henceforward shall be, free; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said per

sons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

No. 29.

Act to punish Correspondence with
Rebels

February 25, 1863

ACCORDING to Sumner, the purpose of this act was to extend the principle of an act of January 30, 1799, relating to treasonable correspondence with foreigners, to correspondence with supporters of the rebellion. The bill was introduced by Sumner January 7, and passed the Senate, February 13, without a division. The House passed the bill on the 21st, also without a division. There was no debate of importance in either house.

REFERENCE.

- Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 696.

An Act to prevent Correspondence with Rebels.

Be it enacted. That if any person, being a resident of the United States, or being a citizen thereof, and residing in any foreign country, shall, without the permission or authority of the Government of the United States, and with the intent to defeat the measures of the said Government, or to weaken in any way their efficacy, hold or commence, directly or indirectly, any correspondence or intercourse, written or verbal, with the present pretended rebel Government, or with any officer or agent thereof, or with any other individual acting or sympathizing therewith; or if any such person above mentioned, not duly authorized, shall counsel or assist in any such correspondence or intercourse, with intent as aforesaid, he shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and, on conviction before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not less than six months nor exceeding five years.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That where the offence is committed in any foreign country, the district court of the United States for the district where the offender shall be first arrested shall have jurisdiction thereof.

APPROVED, February 25, 1863.

No. 30.

Act to provide Ways and Means for the Support of the Government

March 3, 1863

A BILL to provide ways and means for the support of the Government was reported in the House, January 8, 1863, by Thaddeus Stevens, from the Committee of Ways and Means, taken up January 12 and debated from day to day, and on the 26th passed without a division. The Senate passed the bill with numerous amendments, February 13, by a vote of 32 to 4. Two conference committees were necessary to settle the form of the bill. The principal disagreement between the houses was over the taxation of bank circulation, the twenty-third amendment of the Senate having lowered the rate of taxation

provided by the House bill. The report of the second conference committee was accepted February 28.

REFERENCES. Text in U.S. Statutes at Large, XII, 709–713. For the proceedings see the House and Senate Journals, 37th Cong., 3d Sess., and the Cong. Globe. There is a summary of the House bill in the Globe, February 13, Senate proceedings.

An Act to provide Ways and Means for the Support of the Government.

[ocr errors]

Be it enacted That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to borrow, from time to time, on the credit of the United States, a sum not exceeding three hundred millions of dollars for the current fiscal year, and six hundred millions for the next fiscal year, and to issue therefor coupon or registered bonds, payable at the pleasure of the Government after such periods as may be fixed by the Secretary, not less than ten nor more than forty years from date, in coin, and of such denominations not less than fifty dollars as he may deem expedient, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum, payable on bonds not exceeding one hundred dollars, annually, and on all other bonds semi-annually, in coin; and he may, in his discretion, dispose of such bonds at any time, upon such terms as he may deem most advisable, for lawful money of the United States, or for any of the certificates of indebtedness or deposit that may at any time be unpaid, or for any of the treasury notes heretofore issued or which may be issued under the provisions of this act. And all the bonds and treasury notes or United States notes issued under the provisions of this act shall be exempt from taxation by or under state or municipal authority: Provided, That there shall be outstanding of bonds, treasury notes, and United States notes, at any time, issued under the provisions of this act, no greater amount altogether than the sum of nine hundred millions of dollars.

SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized to issue, on the credit of the United States, four hundred millions of dollars in treasury

« PreviousContinue »