Talk:Ironclad Oath

Role During Civil War

This whole section is a copy of the first part of the second paragraph of the section "Role in Reconstruction". Which one would be the preferred one to remove? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Martiankw93 (talk • contribs) 06:51, 5 May 2015 (UTC)

Text of the oath?

Why can't we get the actual text of the oath in here? It's not protected, it's a law. And in the Congressional Record.

the full text = Section 1 of the article. Rjensen (talk) 00:32, 18 May 2013 (UTC)

Inaccuracies in the Article

The article overstates the impact of the Iron-Clad Oath in Reconstruction. The statement "In 1866, the Radical Republicans used the ironclad oath to prevent all former Confederates from voting or even serving on juries" is inaccurate. In 1866, reconstruction was still under the control of the President, not Congress and the Radical Republicans. The attempt to implement the oath, as the article states, was thwarted by Lincoln's pocket veto.

Radicals did prohibit in March 1867 anybody prohibited from holding office under section 3 of the pending 14th Amendment from voting in the election of delegates to state constitutional conventions or in the subsequent ratification. Those exclusions were less exclusionary than the requirements of the Iron-Clad Oath. These exclusions DID NOT apply to any subsequent elections within the state. In fact, the restrictions on former Confederates voting during the rest of Reconstruction varied state by state. Foner in "Reconstruction: America's Unfinshed Revolution" (page 324) notes that few were disenfranchised in Georgia, Texas, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. Alabama and Arkansas banned only those ineligible to hold office under the 14th Amendment. Louisiana banned those editors and ministers who had supported secession or anybody who had voted for the secession ordinance, but allowed them to vote if they took an oath favoring Radical Reconstruction (much more lenient than the I-C Oath. David Donald et al in "The Civil War and Reconstruction" (page 580) note that in states where there was disenfranchisement the maximum percentage was 10-20% with most states considerably less.

I am deleting the inaccurate information from the article. Tom (North Shoreman) (talk) 17:57, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

"US President Ulysses S. Grant vetoed the law, but Congress passed it"

This is an odd construction. A) you don't veto a law, you veto a bill, B) Congress passes a bill and THEN the President acts on it. The implication is that Congress overrode the veto, but that is not explicit. Can someone confirm if that is what occurred and update? GreatCaesarsGhost 15:54, 10 January 2024 (UTC)