Whereas in the month of July, A.D. 1861, in accepting the condition
of civil war which was brought about by insurrection and rebellion in
several of the States which constitute the United States, the two Houses
of Congress did solemnly declare that that war was not waged on the
part of the Government in any spirit of oppression, nor for any purpose
of conquest or subjugation, nor for any purpose of overthrowing or
interfering with the rights or established institutions of the States,
but only to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution of the
United States and to preserve the Union, with all the dignity, equality,
and rights of the several States unimpaired, and that so soon as those
objects should be accomplished the war on the part of the Government
should cease; and
Whereas the President of the United States has heretofore, in the spirit
of that declaration and with the view of securing for it ultimate and
complete effect, set forth several proclamations offering amnesty and
pardon to persons who had been or were concerned in the aforenamed
rebellion, which proclamations, however, were attended with prudential
reservations and exceptions then deemed necessary and proper, and which
proclamations were respectively issued on the 8th day of December, 1863,
on the 26th day of March, 1864, on the 29th day of May, 1865, and on the
7th day of September, 1867; and
Whereas the said lamentable civil war has long since altogether ceased,
with an acknowledgment by all the States of the supremacy of the Federal
Constitution and of the Government thereunder, and there no longer
exists any reasonable ground to apprehend a renewal of the said civil
war, or any foreign interference, or any unlawful resistance by any
portion of the people of any of the States to the Constitution and laws
of the United States; and
Whereas it is desirable to reduce the standing army and to bring to a
speedy termination military occupation, martial law, military tribunals,
abridgment of the freedom of speech and of the press, and suspension
of the privilege of _habeas corpus_ and of the right of trial by jury,
such encroachments upon our free institutions in time of peace being
dangerous to public liberty, incompatible with the individual rights of
the citizen, contrary to the genius and spirit of our republican form
of government, and exhaustive of the national resources; and
Whereas it is believed that amnesty and pardon will tend to secure a
complete and universal establishment and prevalence of municipal law
and order in conformity with the Constitution of the United States,
and to remove all appearances or presumptions of a retaliatory or
vindictive policy on the part of the Government attended by unnecessary
disqualifications, pains, penalties, confiscations, and
disfranchisements, and, on the contrary, to promote and procure complete
fraternal reconciliation among the whole people, with due submission to
the Constitution and laws:
Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of
the United States, do, by virtue of the Constitution and in the
name of the people of the United States, hereby proclaim and declare,
unconditionally and without reservation, to all and to every person
who, directly or indirectly, participated in the late insurrection or
rebellion, excepting such person or persons as may be under presentment
or indictment in any court of the United States having competent
jurisdiction upon a charge of treason or other felony, a full pardon
and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States or of
adhering to their enemies during the late civil war, with restoration of
all rights of property, except as to slaves, and except also as to any
property of which any person may have been legally divested under the
laws of the United States.
In testimony whereof I have signed these presents with my hand and have
caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed.
[SEAL.]
Done at the city of Washington, the 4th day of July, A.D. 1868, and
of the Independence of the United States of America the ninety-third.