Oaths of Allegiance in Colonial New England. Reprinted from the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society for October 1921

This work originally published by the American Antiquarian Society chronicles the various oaths of allegiance that New England colonists were required to take at one time or another prior to American Independence. While the author has omitted the simple oaths of office required of military or civilian officers of the colony or Crown he has otherwise included all oaths to which the general populace of New England were required to swear their allegiance. Mr. Evans weaves verbatim transcriptions of the oaths into the narrative fabric of an historical essay which gives the context for each oath and in a number of instances furnishes facsimiles of the 17th- or 18th-century documents under study. What follows is a sample of the oaths included in the volume some of which pertained to all of New England and others to one or more colonies: The Oath of Supremacy (1534) The Oath of Abjuration (1687-88) The Mayflower Compact (1620) Freeman's Oath (various dates) Oath of Fidelitie (various dates) Stranger's Oath (1652 which was aimed at New England Quakers) Freeman's Charge (of New Haven 1639) Civil Compacts (in Rhode Island 1637-38) The Engagement of the Officers (Providence 1654) The Elders or Rulers Oath (New Hampshire 1640) and the Oath of Councillors of the Province of Mayne (1653).