History of Amnesty in the United States

A common critique of giving the American underclass of 11 million some kind of legal relief is that it is tantamount to "amnesty." That's a dirty word in the right wing, and why shouldn't it be? It's not like forgiving people is something a Christian would do nor does it promote family values in this case. However, the linchpin of the exclusionist argument is that amnesty has been tried before and it didn't work. Let's examine this assertion in detail.

The very first amnesty happened not in 1986, but in 1776. Several dissatisfied British subjects openly fostered rebellion and overthrew the kings rule, a heinous crime of treason punishable by death. Instead of being hung for their insubordination, they started their own country, gave themselves amnesty and were declared national heroes. These dirty law breakers are honored with statues, their namesakes adorn our public buildings and their stories are enshrined with the deepest of respect in our history books. Amnesty was off to a great start!

18th century criminals who gave themselves the first American amnesty.

Almost a century later, the country would revisit this now thorny concept. The country was plagued with an epidemic of law breaking fugitive slaves who had run away from their rightful owners. What's worse, several "sanctuary" states harbored these fugitives, thereby themselves breaking the law. The resentment over the slavery question tore the country in two, with many of the southern states illegally seceding to form their own country. Needless to say, lawbreaking was in its prime in the mid 19th century. How did America solve this problem? One word. Amnesty.

The fugitive slaves were forgiven, so were their harborers. The seceding states were forgiven, and re-admitted into the Union with some tough preconditions (sound familiar?). In an act of unbridled, mass amnesty, the country was saved and reunited in a way that modern Americans hold in the deepest awe and respect. It's no surprise that the architect of this mass amnesty, President Abraham Lincoln, is considered the greatest President of all time. But were we done giving amnesty? Not quite.

Law breaking fugitive slaves such as these were later given amnesty.

In the mid 20th century, a lady by the name of Rosa Parks illegally refused to move to the back of the bus. What a dirty law breaker! Surely we couldn't forgive her or others like her could we!? The law clearly mandated the segregation of white and black Americans, and anyone who broke the law should have gotten no sympathy at all no matter how bad the law was! But, as history tell us, we yet again reformed the law and forgave the law breakers. And how does history judge this mass amnesty? Countless streets were renamed after the reformer Martin Luther King, and a public holiday declared in his honor. The status of this proponent of amnesty? You guessed it. National hero, like all the pro-amnesty heroes before him.

Rosa Parks being booked. She and others later got amnesty.

As today, there were many who opposed reform and decried it with colorful language. The only difference was they didn't use the word amnesty, since no immigrants were involved. The dirty word for reform exclusionists was "race mixing." Instead of shouting "stop illegal immigration," the 1950's ultra-conservative hardliner would yell "stop illegal integration."

Anti-reform exclusionists. They didn't want "amnesty" for minority races.

Stopping illegal integration one law breaking minority at a time.

This brings us to the alleged first amnesty, which is only just the fourth major amnesty with many mini amnesties in between that I didn't get into. In 1986, 3 million law breakers were allowed to get right with the law and become our equals. Many predicted the end of the United States as we know it, with law breakers running loose and terrorizing the public, mass lootings and chaos. What actually followed? Only the largest peacetime economic expansion in the history of the United States.

So when someone says amnesty has been tried before and failed, the question must be asked, which amnesty do they speak off? Or is it only amnesty when immigrants are involved, but for others, it is liberation for patriots, emancipation for slaves and integration for segregated minorities? This country has a long history of reforming unjust laws to bring masses of people to equality with their peers. It's high time for us to relive this American tradition and to welcome the 11 million as equals.

A demonstration for the law breakers of our time. Will they get their amnesty?

I'd like to end this piece by reminding everyone of our pledge of allegiance, that we recite under out beautiful flag. Read it, as many before us have, and apply it to the 11 million undocumented Americans. Here let me write it out for you:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the 
Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, 
with liberty and justice for all.

That's right, liberty and justice for all. Not only for whites, not only for men, not only for straight, rich and documented. This is a country where everyone is entitled to liberty and justice.