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Proving Loyalty: The Test Oath Cases:
Throughout the Civil War, "test" oaths were used to ensure important office holders would remain loyal to the Union. Such statements spread in popularity leading to "ironclad" oaths that declared both past and future loyalty, thus preventing former Confederates from assuming public positions in the restored Union. The punitive nature of these oaths was questioned at both the state and federal level in what were popularly known as the Test Oath Cases. |