ABSTRACT
Loyalty oaths are sworn statements rejecting or forswearing belief or membership in particular ideologies or groups. In times of crisis or uncertainty over the course of the nation's history, the United States has made it necessary for public employees to take loyalty oaths. The history of loyalty oaths dates to the 1600s, when colonists had to swear an oath to support the colonial government. Both the Union and the Confederacy required loyalty oaths during the Civil War. In the twentieth century, loyalty oaths emerged during the "red scare" of the 1920s and later during the Cold War, which ushered in an extended period of uncertainty. "Reasonable grounds" for belief in disloyalty were necessary for termination of an employee, but by 1951 the standard had been reduced to "reasonable doubt." Challenges to loyalty oath programs during the 1950s largely were decided in favor of the government.
