wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit: ARKANSAS, TEXAS, LOUISIANA (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Marie, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans), MISSISSIPPI, ALABAMA, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, NORTH CAROLINA, and VIRGINIA (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are, for the present, left precisely as if this Proclamation were not issued. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that ALL PERSONS HELD AS SLAVES within said designated States and parts of States ARE, And henceforwarD SHALL BE FREE: and that the Executive Government of 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 testimony whereof I have hereunto set my name, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the [L. s.] year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the United States the eighty seventh. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. By the President-WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. PROCLAMATION. 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 1st 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 said Constitution, namely: 66 ARTICLE XIII. "SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitule, 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. "SECTION 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, Ala ama, North Carolina, and Georgia, in all twenty-seven States; 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; 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 20th of April, 1818, entitled "An Act to provide for the publication of the laws of the United States and for other purposes," 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 18th day of December, in the year of our Lord 1865, and of the Independence of the United States of America the 90th. WM. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. LIST OF FEDERAL VESSELS CAPTURED BY THE CONFEDERATE NAVY. Altamaha, brig.. Amanda, bark.. Ariel, steamer.. BY THE ALABAMA. Where from. .New Loudon... Sippican B'n de Castine, brig.... Castine Benj. Tucker, ship.....New Bedford B. Thayer, ship.. .Callao.... ...Mar. 1, 1863. 896 Brilliant, ship. .New York. Charles Hill, ship. .Oct. 3, 1862. 839 Liverpool Nov. 25, 1863. 699 Chastelain, brig. Conrad, bark. Guadaloupe Contest, ship.. Corsair, schr.. Provincetown. Crenshaw, schr... 278 Dorcas Prince, ship....New York, Dunkirk, brig. E. Dunbar, bark.. New York. .New Bedford. Sept. 18, 1862. 300 Express, ship. Lamplighter, bark, E. Farnham, ship. Portsmouth Emma Jane, ship.. .Bombay.. Golden Eagle, ship....Howland's Isl. Golden Rule, bark ...New York. Henrietta, bark. .Baltimore. Highlander, ship.. Singapore.. Loretta, bark... New York. .New Bedford.. Louisa Hatch, ship.....Cardiff. Martha Wenzell, bark.. Akyab Martaban, ship.........Maulmain ..... .Callao. .July 6, 1863. .1072 Galveston Rio Janeiro. May 25, 1863. 400 Westport. .April 15, 1863. 125 .Mar. 23, 1863. 125 .New Bedford. .April 15, 1863 300 New York. .Oct. 15, 1862. 279 |