7
Plymouth Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity
1625
I N T R O D U C T I O N
The sustained existence of many of these early settlements was tenuous. Disease, war, nat-
ural disasters, and starvation often dogged the efforts of early American settlers. A primary
question became how could the community organize itself in such a way so as to insure
its continuation? As important: how could it insure that individuals would reliably support
the ends of communal life? Oaths were incredibly important because they were ways of
insuring that individual citizens would place the communal goals above their own. Central
to the idea of oath taking, however, is the underlying belief in God, and that God will pun-
ish individuals who violate oaths. So important were oaths that Quakers, who followed the
scriptural prohibition on oath-taking, were punished for refusing to take them. A compro-
mise was eventually reached, but in general, people who did not believe in God were to be
excluded from citizenship because nothing could bind them to their pledge.
FORM OF OATH FOR ALL INHABITANTS
You shall sweare by the name of the great God . . . & earth & in
his holy fear, & presence that you shall not speake, or doe, devise,
or advise, anything or things, acte or acts, directly, or indirectly, By
land, or water, that doth, shall, or may, tend to the destruction or
overthrowe of this present plantation, Colonie, or Corporation of
this towne Plimouth in New England.1
Neither shall you suffer the same to be spoken, or done, but shall
hinder & opposse the same, by all due means you can.
You shall not enter into any league, treaty, Confederace or combina-
tion, with any, within the said Colonie or without the same that shall
plote, or contrive any thing to the hurte & ruine of the growth, and
good of the said plantation.
You shall not consente to any such confederation, nor conceale any
known unto you certainly, or by conje but shall forthwith manifest
1
Significant here is that the oath does not
include a statement of allegiance to the
king. The Plymouth colony was among the
first to forgo such a statement. Still, loyalty
to the king remained widespread in the
colonies until Parliament passed the Pro-
hibitory Act in 1775.
Previous Page Next Page