Concept

Ironclad Oath

The oath the 1864 Wade-Davis Bill would have required a majority of southern voters and officials to swear, affirming they had never supported the Confederacy.

An oath that the Wade-Davis Bill required a majority of voters and government officials in Confederate states to take; it involved swearing that they had never supported the Confederacy. Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill, understanding that no southern state could meet the criteria.