Trivial Trivia - taking trivia to new levels

[David Lockmiller]

The answer is:

The Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
by the President of the United States of America

A PROCLAMATION.

WHEREAS, in and by the Constitution of the United States, it is provided that the President “shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment;” and

Whereas, a rebellion now exists whereby the loyal state governments of several states have for a long time been subverted, and many persons have committed, and are now guilty of, treason against the United States; and

Whereas, with reference to said rebellion and treason, laws have been enacted by congress, declaring forfeitures and confiscation of property and liberation of slaves, all upon terms and conditions therein stated, and also declaring that the President was thereby authorized at any time thereafter, by proclamation, to extend to persons who may have participated in the existing rebellion, in any state or part thereof, pardon and amnesty, with such exceptions and at such times and on such conditions as he may deem expedient for the public welfare . . . .

I, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the United States, do proclaim, declare, and make known to all persons who have, directly or by implication, participated in the existing rebellion, except as hereinafter excepted, that a full pardon is hereby granted to them and each of them, with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and in property cases where rights of third parties shall have intervened, and upon the condition that every such person shall take and subscribe an oath, and thenceforward keep and maintain said oath inviolate; and which oath shall be registered for permanent preservation, and shall be of the tenor and effect following, to wit:–

“The persons excepted from the benefits of the foregoing provisions are . . . all who have engaged in any way in treating colored persons, or white persons in charge of such, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war, and which persons may have been found in the United States service as soldiers, seamen, or in any other capacity.”

And, thus, a "promise" made by President Abraham Lincoln to Frederick Douglass in the summer of 1863 was kept.

Question: What were the exact words on this subject that were spoken between the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and Frederick Douglass on that day in the summer of 1863, according to the written words of Frederick Douglass himself?

Helpful hint: Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln by Distinguished Men of His Time, Chapter IX -- Frederick Douglass.