OATH OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT [caption title]

[Jefferson City, Mo., 1862].. Broadsheet, approximately 8 x 10¼ inches. Previously folded, with some small separations and tears, with one larger repaired 2½ tear. Small closed marginal tear at lower left corner. Moderate patch of dampstaining at central upper edge. Good plus. An apparently unrecorded form, printing an oath of allegiance to the United States government and the provisional government of Missouri early in the Civil War. The pro-Union state government was established when Northern forces took Jefferson City in 1861 and the Confederate government established by Claiborne Fox Jackson was put to flight. Nevertheless, the shadow government continued to operate and the national Confederate government at Richmond counted Missouri as one of its constituent states; moreover, there was much conflict between pro-Union and Confederate Missourians throughout the course of the war. The document, the present copy of which in uncompleted, states in part that the signer will:

"Solemnly swear that I will support, protect and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States, and the Provisional Government of the State of Missouri, against all enemies, wether [sic] foreign or domestic.... And I take this oath without any mental reservation or evasion whatsoever, with a full and clear understanding, that death or punishment by the judgment of a Military Commission, will be the penalty for the violation of this, my solemn oath."

An evocative piece of ephemera from Missouri's Civil War history. Not in OCLC.