Captured and Abandoned Property Acts

The Captured and Abandoned Property Acts were U.S. federal laws passed in 1863 and 1864 during the American Civil War. These acts expanded upon earlier Confiscation Acts by defining property subject to seizure as that owned by individuals supporting the Confederacy who were absent from Union-controlled areas. While the Confederate Congress also enacted similar measures against Union supporters, the actual amount of land confiscated by either side was not substantial. Cotton was the primary form of non-slave property seized. These acts, along with the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment, contributed to the loss of significant human property for Southern slaveholders.1