When
Freedom Cried Out
The Freedmen's Bureau in Texas
Andrew Johnson, Amnesty Proclamation, 29 May 1865
Andrew Johnson, President of the United States
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 oth, 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