On July 17th 1862, the US Congress passed the Confiscation Act. This act did two important things. It defined who could be tried for treason, most notably Confederate military and political leaders who orchestrated secession. It defined the punishment for treason as up to 5 years imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. Those found guilty of aiding and abetting treason could face an even harsher punishment. But what this law also included was an additional form of punishment that specifically targeted the power of secessionists, seizure of their property.
With this act, Congress meant to send a signal to the Confederacy and its supporters. Americans have always held the right to property in highest esteem. The law punished Confederate officers, politicians, and government officials by fining and imprisoning them, but also took their property. This was a punishment against the individual offender, but also a punishment that had the potential to realign political, economic, and social power in the South. For Confederate leaders, property came in two significant forms: land and enslaved persons and losing both would be catastrophic to them and their power. The previous year, Congress had passed a similar act, but it did not specify what would happen to enslaved persons. The 1862 act did not leave this question unanswered stating that “all slaves covered under the law would be permanently freed,” and established the legal basis for the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.
But with the end of the war in 1865 Americans focused on reunification and questioned how long the act’s purpose “to punish treason and rebellion” would last and what “property” included. While the United States codified the emancipation of enslaved persons with the 1865 ratification of the 13th Amendment, the question of confiscated land and property remained less clear and over time allowed for southern economic, political, and social power to eventually return to the southern aristocracy.
