Prior to 1861 West Point cadets took an oath of allegiance to their home states, since everyone at that time considered their home state to be their country, just as Spaniards considered Spain to be their country, the French with France, etc. This is why Article 3, Section 3 of the Constitution defines treason as “only . . . levying war upon the United States . . .” with “United States” in the plural, meaning all the individual states, not the D.C. government.
The oath was changed by the Lincoln regime in 1861 as an oath of allegiance to D.C. when it redefined treason to mean criticism of Lincoln, his administration, his words, or his policies — and enforced at gunpoint. Of course, levying war upon the free and independent states — the very definition of treason in the Constitution — is exactly what Lincoln did, so that all those West Pointers who were a part of the Union Army were traitors to the Constitution, regardless of whatever oath the Lincoln regime ordered them to take. (Hat tip to Bob Shaw).
4:27 pm on September 12, 2018
