A loyalty oath is an oath of loyalty to an organization, institution, or state to which an individual is a member. An oath (from Old Saxon eoth) is either a promise or a statement of fact calling upon something or someone that the oath maker considers sacred, usually a god, as a witness to the binding nature of the promise or the truth of the statement of fact. ... Loyalty is faithfulness or devotion to a person or cause. ... It has been suggested that Organizing be merged into this article or section. ... Institutions are structures and mechanisms of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of two or more individuals. ... A state is a set of institutions that possess the authority to make the rules that govern the people in one or more societies, having internal and external sovereignty over a definite territory. ...

In this context, a loyalty oath is not a pledge or oath of allegiance. It is an affirmation by which a person signs a legally binding document or warrant. Pledge is a verb, meaning to promise solemnly, and a noun, meaning the promise or its maker or its object. ... An oath of allegiance is an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges his duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to his monarch or country. ... An affirmation (from Latin affirmare, to assert) is the declaration that something is true. ... A document contains information. ... In law, a warrant can mean any authorization. ...

Usually, a loyalty oath to an organization or to a nation state is created during a time of social tension when people wish to guard against behavior like advocating fundamental change in the organization, advocating violent overthrow of the nation state, or spreading dissent within the organization. Such social tension is most manifest during times of war or when the organization or nation state is faced with a conflict with one or more other organizations or nation states (see Cold War). An overthrow or coup is a term referring to a change in government, whereby a leader or party is removed from power, often through the use of force. ... Look up war in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Conflict (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ...

In the United States

Civil War and Reconstruction

During the American Civil War, political prisoners and prisoners of war were often released upon taking an "oath of allegiance". Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction featured an oath to "faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the union of the States thereunder" as a condition for a Presidential pardon. During Reconstruction, retroactive loyalty oaths were required, so that no one could hold federal office who hadn't been loyal in the past. This article is becoming very long. ... A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. ... Reconstruction was the attempt from 1865 to 1877 in U.S. history to resolve the issues of the American Civil War, when both the Confederacy and slavery were destroyed. ... The ironclad oath was a key factor in the removing ex-Confederates from the political arena during the Reconstruction of the United States in the 1860s. ...

Truman era

Another use of loyalty oaths in the United States was during the 1950s and 1960s. The Red Scare during the 1950s and the Congressional hearings chaired by Senator Joseph McCarthy helped to sustain a national mood of concern about communist agents and a fear such agents may injure the U.S. government through espionage or outright violence. // Recovering from World War II and its aftermath, the economic miracle emerged in West Germany and Italy. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... Some factual claims in this article need to be verified. ... Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin between 1947 and 1957. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ...

On March 21, 1947, faced with concerns over the mounting evidence of Soviet subversive penetration and infiltration into the United States government by American citizens who held oaths of allegiance to a foreign power during war time, President Harry S Truman instituted a Loyalty Program, requiring loyalty oaths and background investigations on persons deemed suspect to holding party membership in organizations that advocated violent and anti-democratic programs. For the victim of Mt. ...

Typically, a loyalty oath will have wording something along the following which is taken from the U.S Supreme Court decision of Garner v. Los Angeles Board, 341 U.S. 716.

"I further swear (or affirm) that I do not advise, advocate or teach, and have not within the period beginning five (5) years prior to the effective date of the ordinance requiring the making of this oath or affirmation, advised, advocated or taught, the overthrow by force, violence or other unlawful means, of the Government of the United States of America or of the State of California and that I am not now and have not, within said period, been or become a member of or affiliated with any group, society, association, organization or party which advises, advocates or teaches, or has, within said period, advised, advocated or taught, the overthrow by force, violence or other unlawful means of the Government of the United States of America, or of the State of California. I further swear (or affirm) that I will not, while I am in the service of the City of Los Angeles, advise, advocate or teach, or be or become a member of or affiliated with any group, association, society, organization or party which advises, advocates or teaches, or has within said period, advised, advocated or taught, the overthrow by force, violence or other unlawful means, of the Government of the United States of America or of the State of California . . . ."

The U.S Supreme Court has both upheld the use of loyalty oaths and overturned lower court decisions upholding loyalty oaths.

Recent Uses

Though not legally binding, the Republican National Committee (RNC) used both signed Loyalty Oaths and spoken Loyalty Pledges as a requirement to attend certain 2004 re-election campaign speeches, a possible first in U.S. election history. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

See also

• Sedition Act of 1918
• Smith Act
• Communist Party USA

The Sedition Act of 1918 was an amendment to the Espionage Act of 1917 passed at the urging of President Woodrow Wilson, who was concerned any widespread dissent in time of war constituted a real threat to an American victory. ... The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act () of 1940 is a United States federal statute that made it a criminal offense for anyone to knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or of any State... The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) is a Marxist-Leninist political party in the United States. ...

Court cases involving loyalty oaths

• Speiser v. Randall, 357 U.S. 513
• Garner v. Board of Public Works, 341 U.S. 716
• Gerende v. Board of Supervisors, 341 U.S. 56
• American Communications Association v. Douds, 339 U.S. 382

Speiser v. ...

References