Confiscation Acts

Confiscation Acts

▪ United States history [1861-64]
      (1861–64), in U.S. history, series of laws passed by the federal government during the American Civil War that were designed to liberate slaves in the seceded states. The first Confiscation Act, passed on Aug. 6, 1861, authorized Union seizure of rebel property, and it stated that all slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military services were freed of further obligations to their masters.

      President Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln, Abraham) objected to the act on the basis that it might push border states, especially Kentucky and Missouri, into secession in order to protect slavery within their boundaries. He later convinced Congress to pass a resolution providing compensation to states that initiated a system of gradual emancipation, but the border states failed to support this plan. And Lincoln repudiated the position of Generals John C. Frémont and David Hunter, who proclaimed that the first Confiscation Act was tantamount to a decree of emancipation.

      The second Confiscation Act, passed July 17, 1862, was virtually an emancipation proclamation. It said that slaves of civilian and military Confederate officials “shall be forever free,” but it was enforceable only in areas of the South occupied by the Union Army. Lincoln was again concerned about the effect of an antislavery measure on the border states and again urged these states to begin gradual compensated emancipation.

      On March 12, 1863, and July 2, 1864, the federal government passed additional measures (“Captured and Abandoned Property Acts”) that defined property subject to seizure as that owned by absent individuals who supported the South. The Confederate Congress also passed property confiscation acts to apply to Union adherents. But the amount of land actually confiscated during or after the war by either side was not great. Cotton constituted nearly all the Southern nonslave property confiscated.

      With the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, however, Southern slaveholders lost an estimated $2,000,000,000 worth of human property.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Confiscation Acts — The Confiscation Acts were laws passed by the United States Congress during the Civil War with the intention of freeing the slaves still held by the Confederate forces in the South. The First Confiscation Act of 1861 authorized the confiscation… …   Wikipedia

  • confiscation acts — Certain acts of congress enacted during the process of the civil war (1861 and 1862) in the exercise of the war powers of the government and meant to strengthen its hands and aid in suppressing the rebellion, which authorized the seizure,… …   Black's law dictionary

  • confiscation acts — Certain acts of congress enacted during the process of the civil war (1861 and 1862) in the exercise of the war powers of the government and meant to strengthen its hands and aid in suppressing the rebellion, which authorized the seizure,… …   Black's law dictionary

  • Confiscation Acts — The acts of Congress of August 6, 1861, and July 17, 1862, providing for the seizure and sale of property used to abet the Confederate cause. 56 Am J1st War § 78 …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • confiscation cases — The name given to a group of fifteen cases decided by the United States supreme court in 1868, on the validity and construction of the confiscation acts of congress. Reported in 7 Wall. 454, 19 L.Ed. 196 …   Black's law dictionary

  • confiscation cases — The name given to a group of fifteen cases decided by the United States supreme court in 1868, on the validity and construction of the confiscation acts of congress. Reported in 7 Wall. 454, 19 L.Ed. 196 …   Black's law dictionary

  • Confiscation — Confiscation, from the Latin confiscatio joining to the fiscus, i.e. transfer to the treasury is a legal seizure without compensation by a government or other public authority. The word is also used, popularly, of spoliation under legal forms, or …   Wikipedia

  • Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997 — The Confiscation of Alcohol (Young Persons) Act 1997 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The purpose of the Act was to empower police officers to confiscate alcohol from the possession of any minors under the age of 18. Previously… …   Wikipedia

  • confiscation — See confiscate. * * * In law, the act of seizing property without compensation and submitting it to the public treasury. Illegal items such as narcotics or firearms, or profits from the sale of illegal items, may be confiscated by the police.… …   Universalium

  • List of Acts of Parliament in Singapore — This is an incomplete list of Acts of the Parliament of Singapore (or its predecessors).There is a complete list of all Singapore Acts of Parliament which are currently in force this is available online at the Singapore Attorney General s… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”