the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defence; and I recommend to them that, in all cases when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.

And I further declare and make known that such persons, of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.

And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

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 first day of January, in the year of our [L. S.] Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States of America the eighty-seventh.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

AMENDMENTS OF CONSTITUTION.

MR. SEWARD'S CERTIFICATE OF THE ANTI-SLAVERY AMENDMENT, KNOWN AS THE 13TH AMENDMENT.

BY WILLIAM H. SEWARD, SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE UNITED STATES,

To all to whom these presents may come, greeting:

Know ye, that whereas the Congress of the United States on the first of February last passed a resolution which is in the words following, namely :—

"A resolution submitting to the Legislatures of the several states a proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States.

"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress Assembled (two-thirds of both Houses concurring), That the following article be proposed to the Legislatures of the several states as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by three fourths of said Legislatures, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the said Constitution, namely :—

ARTICLE XIII.

"SEC. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

"SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

And whereas it appears from official documents on file in this Department that the amendment to the Constitution of the United States, proposed as aforesaid, has been ratified by the Legislatures of the states of Illinois, Rhode Island, Michigan, Maryland, New York, West Virginia, Maine, Kansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Missouri, Nevada, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Vermont, Tennessee, Arkansas, Connecticut, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia — in all, twenty-seven states.1

And whereas the whole number of states in the United States is thirty-six, and whereas the before specially-named states, whose legislatures have ratified the said proposed amendment, constitute three fourths of the whole number of states in the United States.

1 New Jersey, Oregon, California, Florida, and Iowa ratified subsequently to the date of this certificate.

Now, therefore, be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State of the United States, by virtue and in pursuance of the second section of the act of Congress approved the twentieth of April, eighteen hundred and eighteen, do hereby certify that the amendment aforesaid has become valid, to all intents and purposes, as a part of the Constitution of the United States.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Department of State to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this eighteenth day of December, in the year of [SEAL] our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, and of the independence of the United States of America the ninetieth.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, September 12, 1865.

SIR: Your excellency's letter of the 29th ultimo, with the accompanying procla mation, has been received and submitted to the President. The steps to which it refers, towards reorganizing the government of Florida, seem to be in the main judicious, and good results from them may be hoped for. The presumption to which the proclamation refers, however, in favor of insurgents who may wish to vote, and who may have applied for, but not received, their pardons, is not entirely approved. All applications for pardons will be duly considered, and will be disposed of as soon as may be practicable. It must, however, be distinctly understood that the restoration to which your proclamation refers will be subject to the decision of Congress.

His Excellency WILLIAM MARVIN.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, November 1, 1865.

His Excellency WILLIAM MARVIN, Provisional Governor : Your letter of October 7 was received and submitted to the President. He is gratified with the favorable progress towards reorganization in Florida, and directs me to say that he regards the ratification by the legislature of the congressional amendment of the Constitution of the United States as indispensable to a successful restoration of the true legal relations between Florida and the other states, and equally indispensable to the return of peace and harmony throughout the Republic.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

WASHINGTON, November 6, 1865.

His Excellency B. F. PERRY, Provisional Governor of South Carolina : Your despatch to the President of November 4, has been received. He is not entirely satisfied with the explanations it contains. He deems necessary the passage of adequate ordinances declaring that all insurrectionary proceedings in the state were unlawful and void ab initio. Neither the Constitution nor laws direct official information to the state of amendments to the Constitution submitted by Congress. Notices of the amendment by Congress abolishing slavery were nevertheless given by the Secretary of State at the time to the states which were then in communication with this government. Formal notice will immediately be given to those states which were then in insurrection.

The objection you mention to the last clause of the constitutional amendment is regarded as querulous and unreasonable, because that clause is really restraining in its effect, instead of enlarging the powers of Congress. The President considers the acceptance of the amendment by South Carolina as indispensable to a restoration of her relations with the other states of the Union.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Respecting the repudiation of the rebel state debt, this telegraphic correspondence took place :

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, November 20, 1865.

His Excellency B. F. PERRY, Provisional Governor : Your despatch of this date was received at half-past ten o'clock this morning. This freedom of loyal intercourse between South Carolina and her sister states is manifestly much better and wiser than separation. The President and the whole country are gratified that South Carolina has accepted the congressional amendment to the Constitution abolishing slavery. Upon reflection South Carolina herself would not care to come again into the councils of the Union encumbered and clogged with debts and obligations which had been assumed in her name in a vain attempt to subvert it. The President trusts that she will lose no time in making an effective organic declaration, disavowing all debts and obligations created or assumed in her name or behalf in aid of the rebellion. The President waits further events in South Carolina with deep interest.

You will remain in the exercise of your functions of Provisional Governor until relieved by his express directions.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, November 30, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of the 27th instant, informing me, that as the convention had been dissolved, it was impossible to adopt the President's suggestion to repudiate the insurgent debt, and to inform you that while the objections which you urge to the adoption of that proceeding are of a serious nature, the President cannot refrain from awaiting with interest an official expression upon that subject from the legislature.1

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

His Excellency B. F. PERRY.

His Excellency JAMES JOHNSON, Provisional Governor of Georgia :

Your several telegrams have been received. The President of the United States cannot recognize the people of any state as having resumed the relations of loyalty to the Union that admits as legal, obligations contracted or debts created in their name, to promote the war of the rebellion.

WASHINGTON, October 28, 1865.

His Excellency L. E. PARSONS, Provisional Governor :

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

The President congratulates you and the country upon the acceptance of the congressional amendment of the Constitution of the United States by the state of Alabama, which vote, being the twenty-seventh, fills up the complement of twothirds, and gives the amendment finishing effect as a part of the organic law of the land.

WASHINGTON, December 5, 1865.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

1 Before adjourning, the subject of the repudiation of the war debt was referred to the Committee on Federal Relations, who recommended the appointment of a special joint committee of both Houses to inquire into the amount of such debt due by the state, and to whom due; and to report at the next regular session of the legislature.

CERTIFICATE OF SECRETARY SEWARD RESPECTING THE RATIFICATION OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION, JULY 28, 1868. BY WILLIAM H. SEWARD, SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE UNITED STATES.

To all to whom these presents may come, greeting :

Whereas the Congress of the United States, on or about the 16th day of June, 1866, submitted to the legislatures of the several states a proposed amendment to the Constitution in the following words, to wit:

ARTICLE XIV.

SEC. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States, and of the states wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

SEC. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.

SEC. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House remove such disability.

SEC. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void.

SEC. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

And whereas official notice has been received at the Department of State that the legislatures of the several states next hereinafter named have, at the times respectively herein mentioned, taken the proceedings hereinafter recited upon or in relation to the ratification of the said proposed amendment, called article fourteenth, namely:

The Legislature of Connecticut ratified the amendment June 30, 1866 ; the Legislature of New Hampshire ratified it July 7, 1866; the Legislature of Tennessee ratified it July 19, 1866; the Legislature of New Jersey ratified it September 11, 1866, and the Legislature of the same state passed a resolution in April, 1868, to withdraw the consent to it; the Legislature of Oregon ratified it September 19, 1866; the Legislature of Texas rejected it November 1, 1866; the Legislature of Vermont ratified it, on or previous to November 9, 1866; the Legislature of Geor

gia rejected it November 13, 1866, and the Legislature of the same state ratified it July 21, 1868; the Legislature of North Carolina rejected it December 4, 1866, and the Legislature of the same state ratified it July 4, 1868; Legislature of South Carolina rejected it December 20, 1866, and the Legislature of the same state ratified it July 9, 1868; the Legislature of Virginia rejected it January 9, 1867; the Legislature of Kentucky rejected it January 10, 1867; the Legislature of New York ratified it January 10, 1867; the Legislature of Ohio ratified it January 11, 1867, and the Legislature of the same state passed a resolution in January, 1868, to withdraw its consent to it; the Legislature of Illinois ratified it January 15, 1867; the Legislature of West Virginia ratified it January 16, 1867; the Legislature of Kansas ratified it January 18, 1867; the Legislature of Maine ratified it January 19, 1867; the Legislature of Nevada ratified it January 22, 1867; the Legislature of Missouri ratified it on or previous to January 26, 1867; the Legislature of Indiana ratified it January 29, 1867; the Legislature of Minnesota ratified it February 1, 1867; the Legislature of Rhode Island ratified it February 7, 1867; the Legislature of Delaware rejected it February 7, 1867; the Legislature of Wisconsin ratified it February 13, 1867; the Legislature of Pennsylvania ratified it February 13, 1867; the Legislature of Michigan ratified it February 15, 1867; the Legislature of Massachusetts ratified it March 20, 1867; the Legislature of Maryland rejected it March 23, 1867; the Legislature of Nebraska ratified it June 15, 1867; the Legislature of Iowa ratified it April 3, 1868; the Legislature of Arkansas ratified it April 6, 1868; the Legislature of Florida ratified it June 9, 1868; the Legislature of Louisiana ratified it July 9, 1868; and the Legislature of Alabama ratified it July 13, 1868.

Now, therefore, be it known that I, WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State of the United States, do hereby direct the said proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States to be published in the newspapers authorized to promulgate the laws of the United States, and I do hereby certify that the said proposed amendment has been adopted in the manner hereinbefore mentioned by the states specified in the said concurrent resolution, namely, the states of Connecticut, New Hampshire, Tennessee, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, New York, Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, Missouri, Indiana, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Iowa, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, and also by the Legislature of the State of Georgia; the states thus specified being more than three-fourths of the states of the United States.

And I do further certify, that the said amendment has become valid to all intents and purposes as a part of the Constitution of the United States.

Done at the city of Washington, this twenty-eight day of July, in the year of our [SEAL] Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, and of the independence of the United States of America the ninety-third.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

FUGITIVE SLAVES.

Secretary of State.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, December 4, 1861.

To Major-General GEO. B. MCCLELLAN, Washington: GENERAL: I am directed by the President to call your attention to the following subject:

Persons claimed to be held to service or labor under the laws of the State of Virginia, and actually employed in hostile service against the Government of the United States, frequently escape from the lines of the enemy's forces, and are received within the lines of the army of the Potomac.

This Department understands that such persons afterward coming into the city of Washington are liable to be arrested by the city police, upon the presumption, arising from color, that they are fugitives from service or labor.