"Let Us Unite as Men Possessed of a True Sense of Liberty": Creating and Defining Loyalty in the Continental Army

With the outbreak of war in 1775 between America and Britain, the idea of loyalty rose to new importance. At the same time that loyalty oaths were administered to colonists, religious authorities grappled with the issue of loyalty within their congregations. In an effort to appeal to the largest number of men eligible for military service, American religious leaders elected to broadcast messages that united members of revolutionary society in favor of a mass appeal to arms. Instead of competing for the loyalty of an individual to a particular denomination of the Christian faith, ministers and military chaplains spoke of a higher loyalty to a national cause. One of the principal ways religious leaders successfully mobilized men into service, as well as motivated them to fight, was to appeal to their sense of identity as men and their role as protectors for their friends, families, and most importantly, their country. These appeals allowed religious leaders to cut across the ethnic and class lines that had often divided colonial American society. While several scholars, including Spencer McBride, have recognized the fundamental role religious leaders played in the revolutionary movement through their rhetoric, they have paid less attention to the reactions to these sermons from soldiers. This paper will explore the range of emotions Continental soldiers experienced as they witnessed these discussions of men’s duty and loyalty to their country and families and felt compelled to enlist and remain in the army. While these appeals captivated the imagination of Americans to understand loyalty to a national cause, more importantly, they served to provide a space in which a common foundation was established cutting across the diverse interests that pulled men apart to help coalesce the army into supporting a higher mission of God’s duty to all men.