In a recent reorganization of the Cumberland County Historical library, two original Oaths of Allegiance from Cumberland County were rediscovered: the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy of April 13th 1761, and the Oath or Affirmation of Allegiance and Fidelity of June 13th 1777.
The 1761 Oath of Allegiance promises to "bear True Allegiance to his Majesty King George the Third." The signers of the second oath swore in June of 1777 to "renounce and refuse all Allegiance to George the Third King of Great Britain, his heirs and succesors [sic] and to bear true allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a Free and Independent State." The two oaths reveal the change in the political situation in 18th century Pennsylvania as it ceased to be a colony of Great Britain and became an independent commonwealth.
Before an examination of these documents, it must be noted that records in the Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania report earlier Oaths which were administered in Pennsylvania. These oaths were administered to Government officials as they took office or to officials when a new King was proclaimed. Following the death of George the First, The Provincial Council minutes of September 1, 1727, read:
After the Governour had acquainted the Board, that yesterday His Highness George, Prince of Wales, had been publickly proclaimed here King of Great Britain, etc, by the name of George the Second, with the Solemnity and Ceremony suitable to the occasion, His Honor took the Oaths and the several Members present the Affirmations of Allegiance and Fidelity to his said Majesty and Abjuration of the Pretender, as did likewise the Clerk of the Council.
A new problem arose for the Provincial government when a ship, the William and Sarah, arrived from Holland in September of 1727 with "four hundred Palatines as 'tis said, and that [there was] information they will be very soon followed by a much greater Number who design to settle in the back parts of this Province. " This marks the beginning of the great Germanic immigration into Pennsylvania. The problem for the Provincial government was that they were arriving with "without any leave from the Crown of Great Britain." It was determined that it was necessary for these new arrivals to take an Oath of Allegiance to "His Majesty and promise Fidelity to the Proprietor and obedience to our Established Constitution. "
As a result of this concern, the following oath was approved by the Provincial Council on September 21, 1727:
We Subscribers, Natives and late Inhabitants of the Palatinate upon the Rhine and Places adjacent, having transported ourselves and Families into this Province ofPennsilvania [sic], a Colony subject to the Crown of Great Britain, in hopes and Expectation of finding a Retreat and peaceful settlement therein, Do Solemnly promise and Engage that we will be faithfull [sic] and bear true Allegiance to his present Majesty King George the Second, and His Successors Kings of Great Britain, and will be faithfull [sic] to the Proprietor of this Province: and that we will demean ourselves peaceably to all His said Majesties Subjects, and strictly observe and conform to the Laws of England and of this Province, to the utmost of our Power and best of our understanding.
A second and more complex version of the oath to be administered to foreigners is found on page 3 and 4 in Vol. XVII of the Second Series of the Pennsylvania Archives. Although the Archive version is an oath of fidelity to King George II, in its details to assure that the succession to the crown remains with the Protestant line, it closely resembles the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy of 1761 from Cumberland County found in the library collection.
The death of King George II on October 25, 1760 necessitated the Oath of Allegiance to George III which was taken by 19 men in Cumberland County on April 13, 1761. The signers were Francis Campble, John McDowell, John Byers, Ezekial Smith, Robt. _______ , ________ Dunning, Robert Robb, John Armstrong, James Galbreath, Thomas Wilson, John McKnight, A. Hoop, John Montgomery, William Spear, William Smith, James Carrithers (?), Jonathan Hoge, and John Rannells.
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