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Monday, November 7, 2011

Blog Post #5 -- Proclaimation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

Abraham Lincoln: Selected Speeches and Writings with an Introduction by Gore Vidal (pages 411-414)

Monday November 7, 2011 8:47 a.m.

This official proclamation was enacted by President Lincoln in order to "grant reprieve" to those in the South that seceded from the Union. Essentially President Abraham Lincoln gave pardons to all of those that participated in the rebellion so long as they solemnly pledged their allegiance (under oath) to the Constitution of the United States, Congress, and the Union. As a condition of the agreement, all rights of property would be restored to the former rebels except that of slaves. Those that were excluded from the pardon included civil and/or diplomatic officers of the Confederate government, military or naval officers above the rank of colonel or lieutenant, and all those whom left their seats in the United States Congress to aid the rebellion. As part of the reconstruction, Abraham Lincoln demanded that the State governments re-establish republican governments.

I believe that the conditions for the pardon were fair and somewhat paternalistic, in the sense that Abraham Lincoln was not out to harshly reprimand the separatists. More or less, there was a compelling desire to simply restore the state of the Union. If anything, Lincoln was giving the Confederates a clean slate for their past transgressions. I feel as though it was a noble act.

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