In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United [SEAL.] States to be affixed. ANDREW JOHNSON. By the President: W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary of State. Equality of Rights with all Maritime Nations, May 10, 1865. Whereas the President of the United States, by his proclamation of the nineteenth day of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixtyone, did declare certain States therein mentioned in insurrection against the Government of the United States; And whereas armed resistance to the authority of this Government in the said insurrectionary States may be regarded as virtually at an end, and the persons by whom that resistance, as well as the operations of insurgent cruisers, were directed, are fugitives or captives; And whereas it is understood that some of those cruisers are still infesting the high seas, and others are preparing to capture, burn, and destroy vessels of the United States: Now, therefore, be it known, that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, hereby enjoin all naval, military, and civil officers of the United States, diligently to endeavor, by all lawful means, to arrest the said cruisers, and to bring them into a port of the United States, in order that they may be prevented from committing further depredations on commerce, and that the persons on board of them may no longer enjoy impunity for their crimes. And I further proclaim and declare, that if, after a reasonable time shall have elapsed for this proclamation to become known in the ports of nations claiming to have been neutrals, the Baid insurgent cruisers and the persons on board of them shall continue to receive hospitality in the said ports, this Government will deem itself justified in refusing hospitality to the public vessels of such nations in ports of the United States, and in adopting such other measures as may be deemed advisable towards vindicating the national sovereignty. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-ninth. ANDREW JOHNSON. [L. S.] By the President: events and circumstances have since occurred which, in my judgment, render it expedient to remove that restriction, except as to the ports of Galveston, La Salle, Brazos de Santiago (Point Isabel,) and Brownsville, in the State of Texas: Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby declare that the ports aforesaid, not excepted as above, shall be open to foreign commerce from and after the first day of July, next; that commercial intercourse with the said ports may, from that time, be carried on, subject to the laws of the United States, and in pursuance of such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. If, however, any vessel from a foreign port shall enter any of the beforenamed excepted ports in the State of Texas, she will continue to be held liable to the penalties prescribed by the act of Congress approved on the thirteenth day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, and the persons on board of her to such penalties as may be incurred, pursuant to the laws of war, for trading, or attempting to trade, with an enemy. And I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby declare and make known that the United States of America do, henceforth, disallow to all persons trading, or attempting to trade, in any ports of the United States in violation of the laws thereof, all pretence of belligerent rights and privileges, and I give notice that, from the date of this proclamation, all such offenders will be held and dealt with as pirates. It is also ordered that all restrictions upon trade heretofore imposed in the territory of the United States east of the Mississippi river, save those relating to contraband of war, to the reservation of the rights of the United States to property purchased in the territory of an enemy, and to the twenty-five per cent. upon purchases of cotton, are removed. All provisions of the internal revenue law will be carried into effect under the proper officers. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this twentysecond day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and [SEAL.] sixty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the eightyninth. By the President: ANDREW JOHNSON. W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary of State. Of Amnesty, May 29, 1865. WHEREAS the President of the United States, on the 8th day of December, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and on the 26th day of March, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixtyfour, did, with the object to suppress the exist ing 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 proclamations, 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 hence forth 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 government. 2d. 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 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 offences 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 8, A. D. 1863, or an oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States since the date of said proclamation, and who thenceforward kept and main tained the same inviolate. made to the President for pardon by any person Provided, That special application may be belonging to the excepted classes; and such consistent with the facts of the case and the clemency will be liberally extended as may be peace and dignity of the United States. The Secretary of State will establish rules and regulations for administering and recording said amnesty oath, 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 twentyninth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, andof the Independence of the United States the eighty-ninth. ANDREW JOHNSON. [SEAL.] of their commissions in the army or navy of the By the President: 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 WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. CIRCULAR. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, May 29, 1865. SIR: A copy of the President's amnesty proclamation of this date is herewith appended. By a clause in the instrument, the Secretary of State is directed to establish rules and regulations for administering and recording the amnesty oath, so as to insure its benefit to the peo ple and guard the Government against fraud. Pursuant to this injunction, you are informed that the oath prescribed in the proclamation may be taken and subscribed before any com missioned officer, civil, military, or naval, in the | restore said State to its constitutional relations service of the United States, or any civil or mili- to the Federal Government, and to present such tary officer of a loyal State or Territory, who, a republican form of State government as will by the laws thereof, may be qualified for admin- entitle the State to the guarantee of the United istering oaths. All officers who receive such States therefor, and its people to protection by oaths are hereby authorized to give certified the United States against invasion, insurrection, copies thereof to the persons respectively by and domestic violence; Provided, that in any whom they were made. And such officers are election that may be hereafter held for choosing hereby required to transmit the originals of such delegates to any State convention, as aforesaid, oaths, at as early a day as may be convenient, no person shall be qualified as an elector, or to this Department, where they will be depos- shall be eligible as a member of such convention, ited, and remain in the archives of the Govern-unless he shall have previously taken the oath ment. A register thereof will be kept in the Department, and on application, in proper cases, certificates will be issued of such records in the customary form of official certificates. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. origin of the Government to the present time. And I do hereby direct: of amnesty, as set forth in the President's proclamation of May 29, A. D. 1865, and is a voter qualified as prescribed by the Constitution and laws of the State of North Carolina, in force immediately before the 20th day of May, 1861, the date of the so-called ordinance of secession; and the said convention when convened, or the Appointing William W. Holden Provisional Gov- Legislature that may be thereafter assembled, ernor of North Carolina, May 29, 1865. will prescribe the qualification of electors, and Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article the eligibility of persons to hold office under the of the Constitution of the United States declares Constitution and laws of the State, a power the that the United States shall guarantee to every people of the several States composing the FedState in the Union a republican form of gov-eral Union have rightfully exercised from the ernment, and shall protect each of them against invasion and domestic violence; and whereas the President of the United States is, by the Constitution, made commander-in-chief of the army and navy, as well as chief civil executive officer of the United States, and is bound by solemn oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States, and to take care that the laws be faithfully executed; and whereas the rebellion, which has been waged by a portion of the people of the United States against the properly constituted authorities of the Government thereof, in the most violent and revolting form, but whose organized and armed forces have now been almost entirely overcome, has, in its revolutionary progress, deprived the people of the State of North Carolina of all civil government; and whereas it becomes necessary and proper to carry out and enforce the obligations of the United States to the people of North Carolina, in securing them in the enjoyment of a republican form of government: Now, therefore, in obedience to the high and solemn duties imposed upon me by the Constitution of the United States, and for the purpose of enabling the loyal people of said State to organize a State government, whereby justice may be established, domestic tranquillity insured, and loyal citizens protected in all their rights of life, liberty, and property, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, and Commander in-Chief of the army and navy of the United States, do hereby appoint William W. Holden Provisional Governor of the State of North Carolina, whose duty it shall be, at the earliest practicable period, to prescribe such rules and regulations as may be necessary and proper for convening a convention, composed of delegates to be chosen by that portion of the people of said State who are loyal to the United States, and no others, for the purpose of altering or amending the constitution thereof; and with authority to exercise, within the limits of said State, all the powers necessary and proper to enable Buch loyal people of the State of North Carolina to First. That the military commander of the Department, and all officers and persons in the military and naval service aid and assist the said Provisional Governor in carrying into effect this proclamation, and they are enjoined to abstain from, in any way, hindering, impeding, or discouraging the loyal people from the organization of a State Government, as herein authorized. Second. That the Secretary of State proceed to put in force all laws of the United States, the administration whereof belongs to the State Department, applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid. Third. That the Secretary of the Treasury proceed to nominate for appointment assessors of taxes and collectors of customs and internal revenue, and such other officers of the Treasury Department as are authorized by law, and put in execution the revenue laws of the United States within the geographical limits aforesaid. In making appointments, the preference shall be given to qualified loyal persons residing within the districts where their respective duties are to be performed. But, if suitable residents of the districts shall not be found, then persons residing in other States or districts shall be appointed. Fourth. That the Postmaster General proceed to establish post offices and post routes, and put into execution the postal laws of the United States within the said State, giving to loyal residents the preference of appointment; but if suitable residents are not found, then to appoint agents, &c., from other States. Fifth. That the district judge for the judicial district in which North Carolina is included proceed to hold courts within said State, in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress. The Attorney General will instruct the proper officers to libel, and bring to judgment, confisca tion and sale, property subject to confiscation, and enforce the administration of justice within said State in all matters within the cognizance and jurisdiction of the Federal courts. Sixth. That the Secretary of the Navy take possession of all public property belonging to the Navy Department, within said geographical limits, and put in operation all acts of Congress in relation to naval affairs having application to the said State. Seventh. That the Secretary of the Interior put in force the laws relating to the Interior Department, applicable to the geographical limits aforesaid. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the great seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this twenty- [L. S.] By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. 1865, July 13-WILLIAM MARVIN appointed Orders Respecting Freedmen. otherwise for the benefit of refugees or freedmen, CIRCULAR No. 15. WAR DEPARTMENT, BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS, II. This bureau has charge of such "tracts of land within the insurrectionary States as shall have been abandoned, or to which the United States shall have acquired title by confiscation its possession shall be surrendered to any claimor sale, or otherwise," and no such lands now in ant except as hereinafter provided. III. Abandoned lands are defined in section as lands, "the lawful owner whereof shall be 2 of the act of Congress approved July 2, 1864, in arms or otherwise in aiding or encouraging voluntarily absent therefrom, and engaged either the rebellion." IV. Land will not be regarded as confiscated until it has been condemned and sold by decree which the property may be found, and the title of the United States court for the district in thereto thus vested in the United States. V. Upon its appearing satisfactorily to any assistant commissioner that any property under his control is not abandoned as above defined, and that the United States has acquired no title to it by confiscation, sale or otherwise, he will formally surrender it to the authorized claimant or claimants, promptly reporting his action to the Commissioner. EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, D. C., June 2, 1865. Whereas, By an act of Congress, approved March 3, 1865, there was established in the War Department a Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, and to which, in accordVI. Assistant commissioners will prepare accuance with the said act of Congress, is committed the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, and the control of all subjects relat-rate descriptions of all confiscated and abandoned ing to refugees and freedmen from rebel States, lands under their control, keeping a record thereor from any district of country within the terri- of themselves, and forwarding monthly to the tory embraced in the operations of the army, Commissioner copies of these descriptions in the under such rules and regulations as may be pre- manner prescribed in circular No. 10, of July scribed by the head of the bureau, and approved 11, 1865, from this bureau. by the President; and whereas, it appears that the management of abandoned lands, and subjects relating to refugees and freedmen, as aforesaid, have been, and still are, by orders based on military exigencies, or legislation based on previous statutes, partly in the hands of military officers disconnected with said bureau, and part-approval. ly in charge of officers of the Treasury Department; it is therefore Ordered, That all officers of the Treasury Department, all military officers and others in the service of the United States, turn over to the authorized officers of said bureau all abandoned lands and property contemplated in said act of Congress, approved March third, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, establishing the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, that may now be under or within their control. They will also turn over to such officers all funds collected by tax or They will set apart so much of said lands as is necessary for the immediate use of loyal refu gees and freedmen, being careful to select for this purpose those lands which most clearly fall under the control of this bureau, which selection must be submitted to the Commissioner for his The specific division of lands so set apart into lots, and the rental or sale thereof, according to section 4 of the law establishing the bureau, will be completed as soon as practicable, and reported to the Commissioner. VII. Abandoned lands held by this bureau may be restored to owners pardoned by the President, by the assistant commissioners, to whom applications for such restoration should be forwarded, so far as practicable, through the superintendents of the districts in which the lands arg situated. Officers of the bureau through whom the application passes will indorse thereon such facts as may assist the assistant commissioner in his decision, stating especially the use made by the Dureau of the land. VIII. No land under cultivation by loyal refugees or freedmen will be restored under this circular, until the crops now growing shall be secured for the benefit of the cultivators, unless full and just compensation be made for their labor and its products, and for their expendiO. O. HOWARD, Major General, Commissioner. ANDREW JOHNSON, President of the United States. ures. Approved: For the Return to Persons Pardoned, of their Property. EXECUTIVE OFFICE, August 16, 1865. Respectfully returned to the Commissioner of Bureau Refugees, Freedmen, &c. The records of this office show that B. B. Leake was specially pardoned by the President on the 27th ultimo, and was thereby restored to all his rights of property, except as to slaves. Notwithstanding this, it is understood that the possession of his property is withheld from him. I have, therefore, to direct that General Fisk, assistant commissioner at Nashville, Tennessee, be instructed by the Chief Commissioner of Bureau of Freedmen, &c., to relinquish possession of the property of Mr. Leake, held by him as assistant commissioner, &c., and that the same be immediately restored to the said Leake. The same action will be had in all similar cases.* To O. O. HOWARD, ANDREW JOHNSON, Maj. General, Com'r Freedmen's Affairs. Respecting Commercial Intercourse, and the Suppression of the Robellion in the State of Tennessee, June 13, 1865. Whereas by my proclamation of the twentyninth of April, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, all restrictions upon internal, Extract from letter of General Howard, April 23, 1866, in reply to resolution of the House of Representatives of March 5, 1866: In complying with these definite instructions, the bureau has been compelled to part with the greater portion of the property once under its control. Except in the very few cases where property has been actually sold under the act of July 17, 1862, and in that portion of South Carolina and Georgia embraced in the provisions of General Sherman's Field Order No. 15, its tenure of property has been too uncertain to justify allotments to freedmen. Property seized under act of July, 1862, and re- Abandoned property not allotted to freedmen re- Acres. domestic, and commercial intercourse, with certain exceptions therein specified and set forth, were removed "in such parts of the States of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and so much of Louisiana as lies east of the Mississippi river, as shall be embraced within the lines of national military occupation; **" And whereas by my proclamation of the twenty-second of May, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, for reasons therein given, it was declared that certain ports of the United States which had been previously closed against foreign commerce, should, with certain specified exceptions be reopened to such commerce, on and after the first day of July next, subject to the laws of the United States, and in pursuance of such regulations as might be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; And whereas I am satisfactorily informed, that dangerous combinations against the laws of the United States no longer exist within the State of Tennessee; that the insurrection heretofore existing within said State has been suppressed; that within the boundaries thereof the authority of the United States is undisputed; and that such officers of the United States as have been duly commissioned are in the undisturbed exercise of their official functions: Now, therefore, be it known that I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do hereby declare that all restrictions upon internal, domestic, and coastwise intercourse and trade, and upon the removal of products of States heretofore declared in insurrection, reserving and excepting only those relating to contraband of war, as hereinafter recited, and also those which relate to the reservation of the rights of the United States to property purchased in the territory of an enemy, heretofore imposed in the territory of the United States east of the Mississippi river, are annulled, and I do hereby direct that they be forthwith removed; and that on and after the first day of July next all restriction upon foreign commerce with said ports, with the exception and reservation aforesaid, be likewise removed; and that the commerce of such States shall be conducted under the supervision of the regularly appointed officers of the customs provided by law; and such officers of the customs shall receive any property that captured and abandoned turned over to them, under the law, by the military or naval forces of the United States, and dispose of such property as shall be directed by the Secretary of the Treasury. may be The following articles contraband of war are excepted from the effect of this proclamation: arms, ammunition, all articles from which ammunition is made, and gray uniforms and cloth. the insurrection, so far as it relates to, and And I hereby also proclaim and declare that within the State of Tennessee, and the inhabitants of the said State of Tennessee as re-organ15,452 ized and constituted under their recently adopted 14,652 constitution and re organization, and accepted by them, is suppressed, and therefore, also, that all the disabilities and disqualifications attach430,104" ing to said State and the inhabitants thereof 400,000 |