July 30, 1863: As the Civil War raged, President Abraham Lincoln issued his "eye-for-an-eye" order. It was described in the September issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine (p.559) as follows:
"The law of retaliation is formally announced by both the National and the Confederate authorities. Two Confederate officers were executed in Tennessee, June 9, by order of General Rosencrans, as spies found within our lines. The Confederates chose by lot, from among our prisoners at Richmond, two officers, and set them apart for execution, when ordered, in retaliation. Two officers of the enemy in our hands were then placed in close confinement, to be executed if the threats of the enemy were carried out. President Lincoln has also issued a proclamation declaring, in effect, that no distinction will be recognized in the treatment accorded to our white and colored troops who may be captured by the enemy. Every case of ill-treatment will be retaliated in kind: hanging for hanging, shooting for shooting, imprisonment for imprisonment. If a colored soldier, taken prisoner, is sold into slavery, a Confederate prisoner will, in return, be confined at hard labor in some prison until the colored prisoner is set free."
Historians say Lincoln's order was intended primarily as a way to intimidate the Confederacy. It had a slight "restraining" influence on the Confederate government's voiced policy, but individual commanders and soldiers continued to murder captured black soldiers.
July 30, 1956: President Dwight Eisenhower signed a bill declaring "In God We Trust" to be the nation's official motto. The first paper money with that motto was printed in 1957; some critics say it violated the separation of church and state.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
July 30, 1965: President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare into law. In 2011, Medicare/Medicaid spending was $840 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
July 30, 1974: The House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach President Nixon for blocking the Watergate investigation. Nixon would resign ten days later.
Quote of the day
"I despise people who go to the gutter on either the right or the left and hurl rocks at those in the center." — Dwight D. Eisenhower
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Why more and more adults are reaching for soft toys
Magazine solutions - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
Magazine printables - December 27, 2024 / January 3, 2025
