View source for Amnesty Act

{{Short description|1872 U.S. law revoking the punishments imposed by the 14th Amendment on most ex-Confederates}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| shorttitle = Amnesty Act of 1872
| othershorttitles = 
| longtitle = An Act to remove political Disabilities imposed by the fourteenth Article of the Amendments of the Constitution of the United States.
| colloquialacronym = 
| nickname = Amnesty Act of 1872
| enacted by = 42nd
| effective date = 
| public law url = 
| cite public law = {{uspl|42|193}}
| cite statutes at large = {{usstat|17|142}}
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| introducedin = House
| introducedbill = {{USBill|42|H.R.|2761}}
| introducedby = [[Benjamin Butler]] ([[Republican Party (United States)|R]]–[[Massachusetts|MA]])
| introduceddate = May 13, 1872<ref name="cg-introduced">''Congressional Globe'', 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, 1872, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llcg&fileName=104/llcg104.db&recNum=696 p. 3381]</ref>
| committees = 
| passedbody1 = House
| passeddate1 = May 13, 1872
| passedvote1 = voice vote<ref>''Congressional Globe'', 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, 1872, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llcg&fileName=104/llcg104.db&recNum=697 p. 3382]</ref>
| passedbody2 = Senate
| passedas2 = <!-- used if the second body changes the name of the legislation -->
| passeddate2 = May 21, 1872
| passedvote2 = 38-2<ref>''Congressional Globe'', 42nd Congress, 2nd Session, 1872, [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llcg&fileName=105/llcg105.db&recNum=157 p.3738]</ref>
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| passedbody4 = 
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| signedpresident = [[Ulysses S. Grant]]
| signeddate = May 22, 1872
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}}

The '''Amnesty Act of 1872''' is a [[United States federal law]] passed on May 22, 1872, which removed most of the penalties imposed on former [[Confederate States of America|Confederates]] by the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]], adopted on July 9, 1868. Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the election or appointment to any federal or state office of any person who had held any of certain offices and then engaged in insurrection, rebellion, or [[Treason in the United States|treason]].  However, the section provides that a two-thirds vote by each House of the Congress could override this limitation. The 1872 act was passed by the [[42nd United States Congress]] and the original restrictive Act was passed by the United States Congress in May 1866.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rawley|first1=James A.|title=The General Amnesty Act of 1872: A Note|journal=[[The Mississippi Valley Historical Review]]|date=December 1960|volume=47|issue=3|pages=480–484|jstor=1888879|publisher=[[Organization of American Historians]]|doi=10.2307/1888879|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Specifically, the 1872 Act removed office-holding disqualifications against most of the [[secession]]ists who rebelled in the [[American Civil War]], except for "Senators and Representatives of the [[36th United States Congress|thirty-sixth]] and [[37th United States Congress|thirty-seventh Congress]]es, officers in the judicial, military, and naval service of the United States, heads of departments, and foreign ministers of the United States."<ref name=proclamation>{{Cite web|url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=70328|title=Ulysses S. Grant: Proclamation 208—Suspension of Prosecution for Violations of the Office-Holding Prohibition in Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution|website=presidency.ucsb.edu|access-date=February 22, 2018}}</ref>

In the spirit of the act, then United States President [[Ulysses S. Grant]], by proclamation dated June 1, 1872, directed all district attorneys having charge of proceedings and prosecutions against those who had been disqualified by the Fourteenth Amendment to dismiss and discontinue them, except as to persons who fall within the exceptions named in the act.<ref name=proclamation/> President Grant also pardoned all but 500 former top Confederate leaders.

The 1872 law cleared over 150,000 former [[Confederate States Army|Confederate troops]] who had taken part in the [[American Civil War]].{{citation needed|date=September 2025}}

== Text ==
<blockquote>Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each house concurring therein), that all political disabilities imposed by the third section of the fourteenth article of amendments of the Constitution of the United States are hereby removed from all persons whomsoever, except Senators and Representatives of the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh Congresses, officers in the judicial, military, and naval service of the United States, heads of departments, and foreign ministers of the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://govtrackus.s3.amazonaws.com/legislink/pdf/stat/17/STATUTE-17-Pg142.pdf|title=Pub. L. 42–193 U.S. Law|accessdate=April 11, 2022}}</ref>
</blockquote>

== Legacy ==
The Amnesty Act of 1872 states that all political disabilities imposed by the Fourteenth Amendment "are hereby removed," but does not explicitly mention whether future disabilities under the same amendment are also to be considered removed. In March 2022, in the aftermath of the [[January 6 United States Capitol attack|January 6 US Capitol attack]], the [[United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina|US District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina]] ruled that the Act applies even to current members of Congress, automatically removing the political consequences of any alleged violation of Section 3.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Praats |first=Michael |date=4 March 2022 |title=Federal Judge Shuts Down Attempt to Keep Madison Cawthorn Off Ballots |work=[[WECT]] |url=https://www.wect.com/2022/03/04/federal-judge-shuts-down-attempt-keep-madison-cawthorn-off-ballots/ |access-date=23 August 2023}}</ref> The [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit]] unanimously reversed that ruling.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Cawthorn v. Amalfi |vol=35 |reporter=F.4th |opinion=245 |pinpoint=248 |court=[[United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit|4th Cir.]] |date=2022 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=16702568991406153966 |quote=Consistent with the statutory text and context, we hold that the 1872 Amnesty Act removed the Fourteenth Amendment's eligibility bar only for those whose constitutionally wrongful acts occurred before its enactment.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-congress-north-carolina-primary-126d31acbcae9c10357e27c968728083 |title=After Cawthorn's Loss, Candidate Challenge Ruling Reversed |last=Robertson |first=Gary D. |date={{date|24 May 2022}} |website=AP News |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |access-date={{date|15 June 2022}}|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240714114015/https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-congress-north-carolina-primary-126d31acbcae9c10357e27c968728083|archive-date=July 14, 2024}}</ref> A different federal district court ruled that the Act does not apply to current members of Congress, and that Section 3 is still applicable.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/taylor-greene-insurrectionist-challenge-cleared-by-u-s-judge|title=Taylor Greene Insurrection Challenge Cleared by U.S. Judge|last=Holland|first=John|date={{date|April 19, 2022}}|website=Bloomberg Law|publisher=[[Bloomberg L.P.]]|access-date={{date|14 May 2022}}}}</ref> The plaintiff's appeal to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit]] was dismissed as moot after it was determined that she had not violated Section 3.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Greene v. Beaudrot |vol=___ |reporter=F.4th |opinion=___ |court=[[United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit|11th Cir.]] |date=2022 |url=https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202211299.pdf}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Compromise of 1877]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ulysses S. Grant}}
{{Reconstruction Era}}

[[Category:1872 in American law]]
[[Category:Reconstruction era]]
[[Category:42nd United States Congress]]
[[Category:United States federal legislation articles needing infoboxes]]