Proclamation of Amnesty (December 8, 1863) was issued by President Abraham Lincoln, and again on May 29, 1865 by President Andrew Johnson, to pardon and restore the rights of citizenship to those who participated in the Confederate rebellion. This plan for Southern Reconstruction included a statement to be sworn to by those receiving pardon for activities during the Civil War:
<I, , do solemnly swear, in the 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 late rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves. So help me God.> 1863PA001
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1863PA001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Proclamation of Amnesty, December 8, 1863; March 26, 1864, in Proclamations of Amnesty and Pardon to the participants of the Confederate insurrection, issued by President Abraham Lincoln; also in Proclamations of Amnesty and Pardon issued by President Andrew Johnson, May 29, 1865; September 7, 1867. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. VI, pp. 213-215, 310-311, 548-549. Charles W. Eliot, LL.D., ed., American Historical Documents 1000-1904 (New York: P.F. Collier & Son Company, The Harvard Classics, 1910), Vol. 43, p. 443.