"I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DO PROCLAIM, DECLARE, MAKE KNOWN AND ORDER THAT ... ALL PERSONS IN [THE CUSTODY OF THE UNITED STATES], AND NOT COMING THEREUNTO VOLUNTARILY FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF SECURING THE BENEFITS OF SAID [AMNESTY] PROCLAMATION, SHALL BE SUBJECT TO THE SPECIAL CLEMENCY OF THE PRESIDENT, TO BE GIVEN OR WITHHELD."
LINCOLN ON THE LEGAL DETAILS OF AMNESTY: ONE OF AN EXTREMELY FEW LINCOLN DRAFT MANUSCRIPTS RELATING SPECIFICALLY TO RECONSTRUCTION POLICY. On 8 December 1863, although the Confederate surrender was more than eighteen months away, Abraham Lincoln issued his historic Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, a bold maneuver intended to hasten the end of War by consolidating hope in the North and enticing weary Southerners to surrender. Lincoln would grant a full pardon and restoration of all rights of property (excepting slaves) to anyone who took an oath to "faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Union of all the States thereunder." The Government was quickly overwhelmed by requests for amnesty and in March of the following year the President issued a second Proclamation, clarifying exactly which "insurgent enemies" were entitled to the pardon. The present is an important draft of that second statement, written in clearer and more direct language, in which Lincoln explains that Confederate prisoners already in the custody of the United States are not automatically entitled to a pardon under the terms of the December Amnesty, but that instead he personally will review each plea on a case by case basis. Subsequent autograph endorsements allowing the bearer to "take the oath of 8 December and be released" are frequently met with in the market.
