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What was the purpose of the General Amnesty Act passed by Congress in 1872?

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Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
The General Amnesty Act of 1872 was passed to restore political rights to most former Confederates. It removed the legal disabilities imposed during Reconstruction—chiefly the disqualification under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment that barred those who had engaged in the insurrection from holding federal or state office—thereby reinstating their rights to vote and hold public office. The act excluded a relatively small class of high-ranking Confederate leaders (roughly 500 persons), but otherwise aimed at national reconciliation and helped weaken Radical Republican control of Southern governments.