Ironclad Oath facts for kids
The Ironclad Oath was a special promise required near the end of the American Civil War. It was promoted by a group of politicians called the Radical Republicans. This oath made sure that people who wanted to work for the federal government, be lawyers, or hold elected positions had to swear they had never supported the Confederacy. The Confederacy was the group of Southern states that separated from the United States during the war.
The first law about this oath was passed by Congress in 1862. It tried to make the oath a requirement for new members of the 38th United States Congress. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln suggested his own plan, called the Ten percent plan. This plan said that a state that had rebelled could rejoin the U.S. if 10% of its voters took a similar oath. This oath also included a promise to support the end of slavery.
Congress then tried to make the oath apply to 51% of voters in the Wade–Davis Bill of 1864. But Lincoln thought this was too strict and stopped it using a "pocket veto" (meaning he didn't sign it before Congress ended its session). After Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, the next president, Andrew Johnson, was against the oath completely. Because many former Confederate soldiers and leaders couldn't vote or hold office, a new group of Republicans, including both white and Black citizens, gained power in the Southern states during the Reconstruction period. This made many Southern conservative Democrats very angry.
What Was the Ironclad Oath?
The Ironclad Oath was a very strict promise. To take it, a person had to swear they had never fought against the United States (the Union). They also had to promise they had never willingly helped the Confederacy in any way. This meant they couldn't have given advice, encouragement, or support to anyone fighting against the U.S. It also meant they couldn't have held any job or position under the Confederate government. For example, even a farmer who sold food to the Confederate army would have been covered by this oath. Many former Confederates hated the oath and sometimes called it "The Damnesty Oath."
The Oath During Reconstruction
The Ironclad Oath was very important for keeping many former Confederates out of politics during the Reconstruction Era in the late 1860s. Congress first created the oath in July 1862 for all federal employees, lawyers, and elected officials.
In 1863, President Lincoln suggested his Ten percent plan. This plan proposed that 10% of Southern voters would need to take a similar oath to help their state rejoin the Union. However, Congress wanted the oath to apply to 51% of Southern voters in the Wade–Davis Bill of 1864. President Lincoln stopped this bill with a pocket veto because he thought it was too harsh. President Andrew Johnson later opposed the oath entirely.
In 1864, Congress made the oath mandatory for many positions. Historian Harold Hyman noted that by 1866, Northern politicians saw the oath as a way to prevent former rebels from regaining power. They believed it protected Southern Unionists (people loyal to the U.S.) and Black citizens.
The first Supplemental Reconstruction Act, passed in March 1867, required an oath of past loyalty for any man in the South to vote. Local officials who registered voters also had to swear they had never held office under the Confederacy or helped it. They too had to take the Ironclad Oath.
In 1867, the US Supreme Court ruled that the federal Ironclad Oath for lawyers and a similar oath in Missouri for ministers and teachers were unconstitutional. The Court said these oaths violated parts of the Constitution that prevent laws punishing people for past actions that were not illegal at the time.
In March 1867, a group in Congress called the Radicals passed a law. This law stopped anyone from voting in elections for state constitutional conventions if they were not allowed to hold office under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment. These rules were less strict than the Ironclad Oath. This allowed Republican groups to win elections in almost every Southern state except Virginia. The Republican-controlled state legislatures then wrote new state constitutions. These constitutions applied to all state officials and could not be easily changed by a simple vote in the legislature.
Republicans used the oath in the South to prevent their political opponents from holding office or, in some states, even from voting. Most Southerners, even some who supported the Republicans, were prevented from voting by the broad rules of the Ironclad Oath.
The Republican control in the South was not very strong. Many potential opponents could not vote, and others refused to take part in what they saw as unfair elections. By 1870, in almost every state except Arkansas, Republicans stopped using restrictions like the Ironclad Oath against former Confederates. In Arkansas, the Republicans split, which led to a conflict called the Brooks–Baxter War.
When Did the Oath End?
In 1871, Congress changed the oath. It allowed former rebels to swear loyalty for the future, using a simpler promise from 1868. President Ulysses S. Grant vetoed this new law, but Congress passed it anyway.
Voting rules for former Confederates were different in each state during the rest of the Reconstruction period. Few were prevented from voting in Georgia, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Alabama and Arkansas only banned those who couldn't hold office under the Fourteenth Amendment. Louisiana banned newspaper editors and religious ministers who had supported leaving the Union. However, they could vote if they took an oath supporting Radical Reconstruction, which was much easier than the Ironclad Oath. In states where people were prevented from voting, it was usually only 10–20% of white voters. Most states had even smaller numbers. In the South, the Ironclad Oath was most supported by white Republicans in the Hill Counties. They needed it to gain local power.
Finally, in May 1884, President Chester Arthur signed a law that officially ended the remaining Ironclad Oaths and similar oaths for jurors.
