“To Obey Jesus Christ And General Washington”: Massachusetts, Catholicism and the Eastern Indians during the American Revolution

Massachusetts government policy embodies a long history of anti-Catholic sentiment. During the Revolutionary War, the state faced a dilemma as the Indians of eastern Maine, whose loyalty was crucial to the defense of that region, appealed time and again for a Catholic priest to administer their sacraments. This study of the halting official policy regarding the religious needs of the Eastern Indians reveals both the ideological pragmatism of Massachusetts leaders under the pressures of war, and the perseverance of the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Micmac Indians as they struggled to protect their religious way of life

"We All Hoisted the American Flag:" National Identity among American Prisoners in Britain during the American Revolution

“What is an American?” asked the French émigré Hector St. John Crèvecoeur in 1782. In so doing, Crèvecoeur posed one of the fundamental questions of the revolutionary era. When the colonists overthrew imperial authority; declared independence; formed an independent confederation of states; and waged war for its existence; they created a new nation and a new nationality. To be sure, colonists and Britons alike had long used the term “American,” none the less, a complete sense of American national identity was largely inchoate before the American Revolution. Before the Revolution, most Americans identified more with their individual colonies than with an abstract geographic concept like “America.” While the Revolution did not completely supplant regional loyalties, it introduced a new, compelling loyalty: to the United States of America. The Revolution forced Americans to choose between loyalty to Britain or the United States. Ultimately, the majority opted for the United States. Those who did, helped define what it meant to be American by their words and actions. The purpose of this article is to examine the development of loyalty to the United States and the development of an American national identity among one group of Americans: sailors imprisoned in Britain during the Revolution.</jats:p