Abstract
Patriotism and loyalism, in the context of the American Revolution, defined two distinct and opposite political affiliations, one in support of and one in opposition to the colonists’ rebellion. According to the rebel maxim, ‘those who were not for them, were against them.’1 For some Anglican clergymen the choice was that clear, but for others this bifurcation of labels disguised a multiplicity of divided allegiances. A variety of factors influenced decisions to side with the colonial revolutionaries or Britain, including matters of conscience and oath-taking, regional and national affiliations, and a sense of duty to family and parish. These last two obligations came to the forefront particularly with the alteration of the church’s relationship to the state as a result of both independence and disestablishment.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Chapter 6 Divided Allegiances and Disestablishment
Nathan Hatch, The Democratization of American Religion (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1989), 17– 46; William G. McLoughlin, ‘The Role of Religion in the Revolution: Liberty of Conscience and Cultural Cohesion in the New Nation,’ in Essays on the American Revolution, Stephen G. Kurtz and James H. Hutson, eds (New York: W.W. Norton, 1973), 208.
Clara O. Loveland, The Critical Years: The Reconstitution of the Anglican Church in the United States of America, 1780–1789 (Greenwich, CT: Seabury Press, 1956), passim; William Wilson Manross, A History of the American Episcopal Church (New York: Morehouse-Gorham, 1950), 172–201; Frederick V. Mills, Sr, Bishops by Ballot: An Eighteenth-Century Ecclesiastical Revolution (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978), 182–287.
5. For a nineteenth-century analysis, see Samuel Wilberforce, A History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America (New York: Stanford and Swords, 1849), 139 – 41.
Samuel Seabury, Bishop Seabury’s Second Charge, to the Clergy of His Diocess [sic], Delivered at Derby, in the State of Connecticut, on the 22d of September, 1786 (New Haven, CT: Thomas and Samuel Green, 1786), 4.See also Joshua Bloomer to SPG, Jamaica, Long Island, 3 October 1785,SPG Ser C, II, unnumbered.
Bruce E. Steiner, Samuel Seabury, 1729–1796: A Study in the High Church Tradition (Oberlin, OH: Ohio University Press, 1971), 189 –224.
10. Raymond W. Albright, A History of the Protestant Episcopal Church(New York: Macmillan, 1964), 130 –3; Manross, A History of the American Episcopal Church, 194 –8.
James Thayer Addison, The Episcopal Church in the United States, 1789–1931 (Hamden, CT: Archon Books reprint, 1969, orig. publ., 1951), 65–73, esp. 69 –71; Robert W. Prichard, A History of the Episcopal Church (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 1992), 86; S.D. McConnell, History of the American Episcopal Church, 1600–1915, 11th edn(Milwaukee, WI: Morehouse Publishing, 1916, orig. publ. 1890), 244 – 47;and Raymond W. Albright, A History of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 135, 140.
Thomas Bradbury Chandler, A Sermon Preached Before the Corporation for the Relief of the Widows and Children of Clergymen, in Communion of the Church of England in America; at their Anniversary Meeting on October2d, 1771, at Perth-Amboy (Burlington, NJ: Isaac Collins, 1771), 26, 28–30;and Samuel Auchmuty, A Sermon Preached Before the Corporation for the Relief of the Widows and Children of Clergymen; at their Anniversary Meeting in Trinity-Church, New York, on Tuesday, October the 2d, 1770(New York: H. Gaine, 1771), 22– 4. See also John Tyler, The Sanctity of a Christian Temple: Illustrated in a Sermon, at the Opening of Trinity-Church in Pomfret, on Friday, April 12, 1771 (Providence, RI: printed byJohn Carter, 1771), 10.
13. Thomas Barton to SPG, New York, 15 December 1778, Hist. Coll. V, 129 –30. See also Philip Reading to SPG, Apoquiniminck, 30 September1778, Hist. Coll. II, 495.
John Rutgers Marshall to SPG, New York, 24 April 1782, SPG Ser B, III, 351. See also William Clark to SPG, Newport, Rhode Island, 6 July 1778, Hist. Coll. III, 597; and Samuel Andrews to SPG, Wallingford, 10 February1784, SPG Ser C, III, 37.
Roger Viets, A Serious Address and Farewell Charge to the Members of the Church of England in Simsbury and the Adjacent Parts (Hartford, CT: Hudson and Goodwin, 1787), 5.
Doty to SPG, Montreal, 20 May 1775 in John W. Lydekker, ‘The Reverend John Doty, 1745–1841,’ HMPEC 7 (1938), 293.
21. Philip Reading to SPG, Apoquiniminck, 18 March 1776, Hist. Coll. II, 482.
Edward Winslow to SPG, Braintree, 5 August 1775 and 1 January 1777, Hist. Coll. III, 582, 588– 90.
G. MacLaren Brydon, ‘The Clergy of the Established Church in Virginiaand the Revolution,’ VMHB 41 (1941), 15; Cumberland County to General Assembly, 3 November 1779 and 23 November 1780, Legislative Petitions, Religious Petitions to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1774 –1802,VSLA, Miscellaneous Reel 425.
Josephine Fisher, ‘Bennet Allen, Fighting Parson,’ Maryland Historical Magazine 28 (1943), 299 –322; 29 (1944), 49–72, esp. 57, 59, 61; and JamesA. Allen, The Allen Chronicle: A Family in War and Peace (Braunton, Devon: Merlin Books, 1988), 34 – 43, esp. 34.
Edward Bass to SPG, Newbury Port, New England, 9 January 1784, Hist. Coll. III, 631, 632. For opinions on Bass’s conduct see Col Frye to SPG, 24 May 1783, Hist. Coll. III, 628– 9 and other letters, 611–38.
Bailey to J. W. Weeks, 10 October 1777 in William S. Bartlett, ed., ‘The Frontier Missionary: A Memoir of the Life of the Rev. Jacob Bailey, A.M.Missionary at Pownalborough, Maine, Cornwallis and Annapolis, N.S., ‘Collections of the Protestant Episcopal History Society II (New York:Stanford and Swords, 1853), 114.
32. G. MacLaren Brydon, ed., ‘Letter of the Rev. James Ogilvie to Colonel John Walker of Belvoir, Virginia, April 26, 1771,’ HMPEC 1 (1932), 34 –5.
Thomas Coombe Jr to Thomas Coombe Sr, London, 6 June 1770 and8 October 1770, Coombe Family Papers, HSP, MSS 1993.
William Smith to SPG, Philadelphia, 28 August 1775, Hist. Coll. II, 479.
Thomas Bradbury Chandler, A Friendly Address to All Reasonable Americans, on the Subject of Our Political Confusions: in Which the Necessary Consequences of Violently Opposing the King’s Troops, and of a General Non Importation are Fairely Stated (Boston, MA: Mills and Hicks, 1774), 7; and his, What Think Ye of the Congress Now? Or, An Inquiry, How Far the Americans are Bound to Abide By and Execute the Decisions of, the Late Congress? (New York: James Rivington, 1775), 48.36. Jonathan Boucher, A View of the Causes and Consequences of the American Revolution, in Thirteen Discourses (London: G.G. and J. Robinson, 1797), 592–3.
37. Henry P. Ippel, ‘British Sermons and the American Revolution,’ Journal of Religious History 12 (1982), 197
42. John Hurt, The Love of our Country. A Sermon, Preached before the Virginia Troops in New-Jersey (Philadelphia, PA: Styner & Cist, 1777), 7.
James Madison, A Sermon Preached Before the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Virginia, on the Twenty Sixth of May, 1786(Richmond, VA: Thomas Nicolson, 1786), 3.
44. Madison, A Sermon Preached Before the Convention (1786), 4 – 6.
John Tyler, An Eulogy on the Life of General George Washington, Late Commander in Chief of the Armies of the United States of America, Who Died Dec. 14, 1799. Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Parish of Chelsea, in Norwich, on the 22d of Feb. 1800 (Norwich, CT: Thomas Hubbard, 1800), 13.
Curtis Fahey, The Anglican Experience in Upper Canada, 1791–1854(Ottawa: Carleton University Press, 1991), xv; Judith Fingard, The Anglican Design in Loyalist Nova Scotia (London: SPCK, 1972), esp. 1–5; William Knox to William Pitt, 1786, Fulham Papers, I, 102. See also Charles Inglisto William White, 7 August 1788, Hawks Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, RG
Bartlet ‘The Frontier Missionary: A Memoir of the Life of the Rev. Jacob Bailey,’ 150. Bailey’s opinions later changed, and Mather Byles Jr also described Halifax as an ‘American Siberia’ rather than Canaan. See also Bailey to Samuel Peters, 11 May 1780, Peters Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, PI45-8-46; and Byles to Samuel Peters, 10 May 1782 and 22 October 1782, Peters Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, PI 63-8-64 and PI 70-8-71.
Matthew Graves to SPG, New York, 29 September 1779, Doc. Hist. II, 204.
William to Bishop John Henry Hobart, 1 September 1819, as quoted in Jennifer Clark, ‘ “Church of Our Fathers”: The Development of the Protestant Episcopal Church Within the Changing Post-Revolutionary Anglo-American Relationship,’ The Journal of Religious History 18 (1994), 27.
William Duke, Observations on the Present State of Religion in Mary land(Baltimore, MD: Samuel and John Adams, 1795), 46 –7.
Bennet Allen, A Reply to the Church of England Planter’s First Letter Respecting the Clergy (Annapolis, MD: Anne Catherine Green, 1770), 7.
Uzal Ogden, A Sermon Delivered in St. Peter’s Church, in the City of Perth-Amboy, May 16, 1786 Before a Convention of Clerical and Lay Delegates, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the state of New-Jersey (New York: Samuel & John Loudon, 1786), 28.
Of the 20 ministers residing in Connecticut in 1783 (two had died during the Revolution and one had exiled in late 1774), seven left for Canada between1783 and 1789. At least one who remained, Christopher Newton, expressed misgivings about the new church. On Newton, see Hector G. Kinloch, ‘Anglican Clergy in Connecticut 1701–1785’ (unpublished PhD diss., Yale University, 1959), 88.
Henry Purcell, Strictures on the Love of Power in the Prelacy; Particular lyin a Late Claim of a Complete Veto, on all the Proceedings of the Clergy and Laity in Legal Convention Assembled. As set Forth in a Pamphlet, Published Prior to their Meeting in New-York (Charleston, SC: W.P. Young, 1795), 46.
Griffith to William White, 26 July 1784, White Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, WI, 37-1-39. See also John Tyler to Samuel Peters, 9 January 1784, Peters Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, PII 2-9-2.
Duche to William White, 11 August 1783, White Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, WI, 22-1-24; and Parker to Samuel Peters, 7 May 1785, Peters Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, PII 39-9-39
Parker to Samuel Peters, 15 December 1788, Peters Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, PIII 128-11-39; Parker to William White, 10 September 1784, White Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, WI 143-1-44; and Parker to Peters, 23 October1786, Peters Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, PII 113-10-14
Tyler to Peters, 9 January 1784, Peters Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, PII 2-9-2;and Bela Hubbard to Samuel Peters, 21 January 1784, Peters Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, PII 3-9-3
James Madison, A Discourse on the Death of General Washington, Late President of the United States, Delivered on the 22d of February, 1800, In the Church in Williamsburg, 2nd edn (New York, 1800), 6, 40; Madison, A Sermon Preached Before the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the State of Virginia, on the Twenty Sixth of May, 1786, 16. For a similar message, see Samuel Magaw, A Sermon Delivered in St. Paul’s Church, on the 4th of July, 1786 (Philadelphia, PA, 1786), 14 –18.
87. James Madison, An Address to the Members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in Virginia (Richmond, VA: printed by T. Nicolson, 1799), 4 –5, 23.
Samuel Parker, A Sermon, Preached Before His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor, the Honorable the Council, and the Honorable the Senate, and House of Representatives, of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, May 29, 1793; Being the Day of General Election (Boston, MA: Thomas Adams, 1793), 10 –11, 31–2. See also John Tyler, The Blessing of Peace: A Sermon Preached at Norwich, on the Continental Thanksgiving, February 19, 1795(Norwich, CT: John Trumbull, 1795), 17–18.
91. William Smith, A Sermon Preached in Christ-Church, Philadelphia, on Friday, October 7th, 1785, Before the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the States of New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South-Carolina (Philadelphia, PA: Robert Aiken, 1785), 12–13.
92. William Duke, Thoughts on Repentance. By a Minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Maryland (Baltimore, MD: William Goddard, 1789), 6.
93. Samuel Magaw, A Sermon Delivered in Christ-Church, Philadelphia, on Monday in Whitsun-Week, the 28th of May, 1787; at the First Ordination Held by the Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the State of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA: Prichard & Hall, 1787), 8– 9.
Samuel Magaw, A Sermon Delivered in Christ-Church, Philadelphia, on Monday in Whitsun-Week, the 28th of May, 1787, 27.
On temperament, see Philip J. Greven, The Protestant Temperament: Patterns of Child-Rearing, Religious Experience, and the Self in Early America(Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1988, orig. publ. New York: Knopf, 1977), 337.
Dibblee to Samuel Peters, Stamford, 5 February 1793, in ‘Letters of theReverend Doctor Ebenezer Dibblee,’ 76 –7.
Coombe to Vestry of Christ Church, Philadelphia, 7 July 1778, excerpt in Edgar Legare Pennington, ‘The Anglican Clergy of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution,’ Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 63(1939), 422. See also Arthur Pierce Middleton, ‘The Bestowal of the American Episcopate – A Bicentennial Remembrance,’ HMPEC 53 (1984), 323.
William White, Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, From Its Organization Up to the Present Day, 2nd edn(New York: Swords, Stanford, 1836), 23.
Clergy of Connecticut, signed by Abraham Jarvis, to Archbishop of York, New York, 21 April 1783, Doc. Hist. II, 214.104. Dibblee to Samuel Peters, Stamford, Connecticut, 3 May 1785 and 20 March1786, in ‘Letters of the Reverend Doctor Ebenezer Dibblee,’ 63–4, 72–3.105. White, Memoirs of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 21. See also Loveland, Critical Years, 195– 6.
106. See Loveland, The Critical Years, 21– 61; and John F. Woolverton, ‘Philadelphia’s William White: Episcopalian Distinctiveness and Accomodation in the Post-Revolutionary Period,’ HMPEC 43 (1974), 279 – 96.
107. William White, The Case of the Episcopal Churches in the United States Considered (Philadelphia, PA: David C. Claypoole, 1782), 6 –7, 17, 33.
Hubbard to Samuel Peters, 29 November 1785, Peters Mss in Hawks Coll., AEC, PII 60-9-60.
112. John Bowden, An Address from John Bowden, A.M. to the Members of the Episcopal Church in Stratford. To Which is Added, a Letter to the Rev’d Mr.James Sayre (New Haven, CT: T. & S. Green, 1792), 11, 16 –17, 18.
Roger Viets to SPG, Simsbury, 29 October 1785, SPG Ser C, III, 53. See also Dibblee to SPG, Stamford, 27 September 1790, SPG Ser C, III, 69.
William White, A Sermon, Delivered in Christ-Church, on the 21st of June, 1786, at the Opening of the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in the States of New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and South-Carolina (Philadelphia, PA: Hall & Sellers, 1786), 25, 29, 30.
William Smith, A Sermon Preached in Christ-Church, Philadelphia, on Friday, October 7th, 1785, 22.
William Smith, A Sermon Preached in Christ-Church, Philadelphia, on Friday, October 7th, 1785, 24 –28, citation 28.119. Henry Purcell, Strictures on the Love of Power in the Prelacy, 5, 8, 33–4, 46–8.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1999 Nancy L. Rhoden
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Rhoden, N.L. (1999). Divided Allegiances and Disestablishment. In: Revolutionary Anglicanism. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230512924_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230512924_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-40556-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-51292-4
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)