(1861-64), in U.S. history, series of laws passed by the federal government during the American Civil War that were designed to liberate slaves in the seceded states. The first Confiscation Act, passed on Aug. 6, 1861, authorized Union seizure of rebel property, and it stated that all slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military services were freed of further obligations to their masters.
President Abraham Lincoln objected to the act on the basis that it might push border states, especially Kentucky and Missouri, into secession in order to protect slavery within their boundaries. He later convinced Congress to pass a resolution providing compensation to states that initiated a system of gradual emancipation, but the border states failed to support this plan. And Lincoln repudiated the position of Generals John C. Fr