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The '''ironclad oath''' was a key device for the removal of ex-Confederates from the political arena during the [[Reconstruction]] of the United States in the 1860s. It required every white male to swear they had never borne arms against the Union or supported the Confederacy. Specifically they swore they "never voluntarily borne arms against the United States," had "voluntarily" given "no aid, countenance, counsel or encouragement" to persons in rebellion and had exercised or attempted to exercise the functions of no office under the Confederacy.  Men who took the oath were eligible for office and were called [[Scalawags]]—an insulting term at the time now generally used by scholars.

The '''Ironclad Oath''' was a key device for the removal of ex-Confederates from the political arena during the [[Reconstruction]] of the United States in the 1860s. It required every white male to swear they had never borne arms against the Union or supported the Confederacy. Specifically they swore they "never voluntarily borne arms against the United States," had "voluntarily" given "no aid, countenance, counsel or encouragement" to persons in rebellion and had exercised or attempted to exercise the functions of no office under the Confederacy.  Men who took the oath were eligible for office and were called [[Scalawags]]—an insulting term at the time now generally used by scholars.

   

   

Congress originally devised the oath in July 1862 to exclude pro-southern [[Copperheads]] from government by requiring it be sworn by all federal employees, lawyers and federally elected officials.  [[Radical Republicans]] in Congress attempted to apply it to southern voters in the [[Wade-Davis Bill]] of 1864, but Lincoln vetoed it and it never went into effect.  [[Andrew Johnson]] also opposed it; he and Lincoln wanted Southerners to swear an oath that '''in the future'' they would support the Union.  

Congress originally devised the oath in July 1862 to exclude pro-southern [[Copperheads]] from government by requiring it be sworn by all federal employees, lawyers and federally elected officials.  [[Radical Republicans]] in Congress attempted to apply it to southern voters in the [[Wade-Davis Bill]] of 1864, but Lincoln vetoed it and it never went into effect.  [[Andrew Johnson]] also opposed it; he and Lincoln wanted Southerners to swear an oath that '''in the future'' they would support the Union.