Abraham Lincoln: A December 8 Oath of Allegiance

Background

It tells us all we will ever need to know about Lincoln that the most popular form of his autograph is not on legal briefs or military documents, or even wartime letters, but on small slips of paper bearing, more or less, a dozen words of forgiveness:

Let this man take the oath of December 8, 1863 and be discharged.

The Oath of December 8 was announced by Lincoln, on that day, in his annual message to congress in 1863. He would offer a pardon to any man who would swear, without coercion, his allegiance to the Union. The Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction provided, then, a general pardon to soldiers in the Rebellion, and to those, too, who deserted the Union cause. The Oath reads in part: I, [name], do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will henceforth faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the union of states thereunder; and that I will, in like manner, abide and faithfully support all acts of Congress passed during the existing rebellion with reference to slaves…So help me God.”

Counter Claim

In a court of law, a party’s claim is a counterclaim if one party asserts claims in response to the claims of another. In other words, if a plaintiff initiates a lawsuit and a defendant responds to the lawsuit with claims of his or her own against the plaintiff, the defendant’s claims are “counterclaims.”

Examples of counterclaims include:

  • After a bank has sued a customer for an unpaid debt, the customer counterclaims (sues back) against the bank for fraud in procuring the debt. The court will sort out the different claims in one lawsuit (unless the claims are severed).
  • Two cars collide. After one person sues for damage to her car and personal injuries, the defendant counterclaims for similar property damage and personal injury claims.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterclaim

resolution (n.)

late 14c., resolucioun, “a breaking or reducing into parts; process of breaking up, dissolution,” from Old French resolution (14c.) and directly from Latin resolutionem (nominative resolutio) “process of reducing things into simpler forms,” noun of action from past participle stem of resolvere “to loosen” (see resolve (v.)).

From the notion of “process of resolving or reducing a non-material thing into simpler forms” (late 14c.) as a method of problem-solving comes the sense of “a solving” (as of mathematical problems), recorded by 1540s, as is that of “power of holding firmly, character of acting with a fixed purpose” (compare resolute (adj.)). The meaning “steadfastness of purpose” is by 1580s. The meaning “effect of an optical instrument in rendering component parts of objects distinguishable” is by 1860. In Middle English it also could mean “a paraphrase” (as a breaking up and rearranging of a text or translation). 

In mid-15c. it also meant “frame of mind,” often implying a pious or moral determination. By 1580s as “a statement upon some matter;” hence “formal decision or expression of a meeting or assembly,” c. 1600. New Year’s resolution in reference to a specific intention to better oneself is from at least the 1780s, and through 19c. they generally were of a pious nature.

Freehold (law)

In common law jurisdictions like England and WalesAustralia,[1] Canada, and Ireland, a freehold is the common ownership of real property, or land,[a] and all immovable structures attached to such land. It is in contrast to a leasehold: in which the property reverts to the owner of the land after the lease period expires or otherwise lawfully terminates.[3] For an estate to be a freehold, it must possess two qualities: immobility (property must be land or some interest issuing out of or annexed to land) and ownership of it must be forever (“of an indeterminate duration”). If the time of ownership can be fixed and determined, it cannot be a freehold. It is “An estate in land held in fee simple, fee tail or for term of life.”[4]

The default position subset is the perpetual freehold, which is “an estate given to a grantee for life, and then successively to the grantee’s heirs for life.”[4]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freehold_(law)

punitive (adj.)

“inflicting or involving punishment,” 1620s, from French punitif (16c.) or directly from Medieval Latin punitivus, from Latin punitus, past participle of punire “to punish, correct, chastise” (see punish).