Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1863-05-16
PROCLAMATION BY THE PRES
IDENT.
OF TEAE MILL
TIA.
by ttie President Of the United
States Of America.
A PRoCLlsiATIoS.


WAereos, The Congress of the United
States, at its last session ,.saactcd law enti-
tied AN act for enrolling and calling out
the national forces, and for other purposes, :"
which was approved on the Cd day of March
last; %
And 'chereas, it is recited in the said act
that there now exists in the United States
an .insurrection and rebellion against the
authority thereof, and it is, under the Con
stitution of the United States, the duty of
the Government to suppress insuirection and
rebellion, to guarantee to each State re
publican form Of government, and to pre-
preserve the public tranquility
and tehereaS, for these high purposes, Il
military force is indispensable, to raise and
support which all persons ought willingly
to contribute
ind uhereas, no service can be more
praiseworthy and honorable than that which
is rendered for the maintenance of the Con.
stitution and the Union, and the consequent
preservation of free government
And tohercas, for the reasons thus recited,
it was enacted by the said statute that all
able bodied male citizens of the United
States, and persons of foreign birth who
shall have declared on oath their intention
to become citizens under and in pursuance
of the laws thereof, between the ages of
twenty and fortyive years (with certain
excavations not necessary to be mentioneoO,
are declared to constitute the national forces
and shall be liable to perform military duty
in the service of the United States when
called out by the President for that pur-
pose;
And ,chereas, 1t is claimed by and in be-
half of persons of foreign birth, within the
ages specified in the said act, who have
heretofore declared on oath their intentions
to become citizens, under and in pursuance
of the laws of the United States, and who
have not exercised the right of suffrage or
any other political franchise under the laws
of the United States or of the States thereof
are not absolutely included by their afore-
said declaration of intention from renoun-
cling their purpose to become citizens, and
that on the contrary such persons, under
the treaties of law of nations, retain right
to renounce that purpose and to fUrego the
privileges Of citizenship and residence within
the United States under the obligations i'm
posed by the aforesaid act of Congress
Now, theresore, to avoid any misapprc-
hension concerning the liability of persons
concerned to perform the service required
by such enactment, and to give it full effect,
| do hereby order and proclaim that no
plea of alienage will be received or allowed
to exempt from the obligations imposed by
the aforesaid act of Congress, any person OF
foreign birth who shall have declared on
oath his intention to become citizen of the
United States, under the laws thereof and
who shall be found within the United States
at any time during the continuance of the
present instruction and rebellion, at or after
the expiration Of the period of sixty-tye
days from the date of this proclamation
Nor shall any such plea of alienage be al
lowed in favor of any such person who ha:
so, as aforesaid, declared his intention tC
become citizen of the United States, ano
shall have exercised at any time the righ
of suffrage, or any other political franchise
within the United States, under the law
thereof. or under the laws of any of thu
several States.
In witness whereof have hereunto Sc
my hand and caused the seal of the United
States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this tn
sth day of May, in the year of our Lord, on
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, ant
of the Independence of the United State
the eighty-seyenth.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
By the President-WM. III. SEWARD.