- Joined
- Aug 25, 2013
- Location
- Hannover, Germany
Watching a Civil War Journal video on Youtube about Westpoint classmates who became Civil War enemies I found it remarkable that up until 1861 the cadets swore the Oath of Allegiance to their home states. Only in 1861 that was changed and the cadets had to swear their Oath of Allegiance now to the United States. At that time there were still a lot of cadets from the southern states attending the USMA and the change of the oath must have been a tough thing for them.
“The day after the firing on Fort Sumter, the United States Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, directed that all United States Military Academy (West Point) cadets must take a "new oath of allegiance." Previously, each cadet had taken an "oath of allegiance to his respective State." Now, they were required to "swear feilty* to the United Statesparamount to any other state, county or political entity." While the cadets were in full uniform, the new oath was administered in the chapel in the presence of the Academy staff. “
http://thomaslegion.net/generalroberteleestateloyalty.html
What I'm asking myself is, if the earlier graduates had sworn the oath to their respective states, how could they become regarded as traitors later when they showed loyalty to their states according to their oaths?
This is not meant as a provocation, but to help me understand better. Thanks in advance for your comments!
As for details on the oath, see this old thread here:
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-oath-of-allegiance.1035/
“The day after the firing on Fort Sumter, the United States Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, directed that all United States Military Academy (West Point) cadets must take a "new oath of allegiance." Previously, each cadet had taken an "oath of allegiance to his respective State." Now, they were required to "swear feilty* to the United Statesparamount to any other state, county or political entity." While the cadets were in full uniform, the new oath was administered in the chapel in the presence of the Academy staff. “
http://thomaslegion.net/generalroberteleestateloyalty.html
What I'm asking myself is, if the earlier graduates had sworn the oath to their respective states, how could they become regarded as traitors later when they showed loyalty to their states according to their oaths?
This is not meant as a provocation, but to help me understand better. Thanks in advance for your comments!
As for details on the oath, see this old thread here:
http://civilwartalk.com/threads/the-oath-of-allegiance.1035/