amnesty

(noun)

An act of the sovereign power granting oblivion, or a general pardon, for a past offense, as to subjects concerned in an insurrection.

Related Terms

Examples of amnesty in the following topics:

  • Reform and the Election of 1872

    • They advocated civil-service reform, a low tariff, and amnesty for former Confederate soldiers.
    • Grant also favored amnesty for former Confederate soldiers such as the Liberal Republicans.

  • The Battle over Reconstruction

    • In his 1863 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, Lincoln established a plan that would have granted presidential pardons to all southerners, except for the political leaders during secession.
    • It offered amnesty to almost all Confederates who took an oath of allegiance to the Union.

  • The Ford Administration

    • When he announced the Nixon pardon, Ford also introduced a conditional amnesty program–Presidential Proclamation 4313–for Vietnam War draft dodgers who had fled to countries, such as Canada.

  • Central America

    • The army murdered, tortured, mutilated, and raped civilians and committed other war crimes, as documented by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
    • In its annual report in 1985, Amnesty International cited accounts that U.S. support encouraged the Contras to carry out "torture and assassinations."

  • The Impeachment and Trial of Johnson

    • When Johnson began his first term as president, however, he unexpectedly proclaimed general amnesty for most former confederates, and vetoed legislation that extended civil rights and financial support for former slaves.

  • Twenty-First-Century Americans

    • Immigrant rights march for amnesty in downtown Los Angeles, California on May Day, 2006.

  • Cleveland and the Special Interests

    • Liliuokalani initially refused to grant amnesty as a condition of her reinstatement, saying that she would either execute or banish the current government in Honolulu.

  • Immigration Reform

    • These six sections are: (1) fixing border enforcement, (2) increasing interior enforcement, such as preventing visa overstays, (3) preventing people from working without a work permit, (4) creating a committee to adapt the number of visas available to changing economic times, (5) a type of amnesty program to legalize undocumented immigrants and (6) programs to help immigrants adjust to life in the United States.

  • Immigration Policy

    • These six sections are: (1) fixing border enforcement, (2) fixing interior enforcement, such as preventing visa overstays, (3) preventing people from working without a work permit, (4) creating a committee to adapt the number of visas available to changing economic times, (5) an amnesty type of program to legalize undocumented immigrants, and (6) programs to help immigrants adjust to life in the United States.

  • The Ford Inauguration

    • When he announced the Nixon pardon, Ford also introduced a conditional amnesty program for Vietnam War draft dodgers who had fled to countries such as Canada.