Oath of Allegiance, 20 October 1783
Oath of Allegiance1
Albany, October 20, 1783. On this date Hamilton signed an oath of allegiance to the State of New York. The oath, signed by six other lawyers, reads as follows: “I ______ do solemnly without any mental reservation or Equivocation whatsoever swear and declare and call God to witness That I renounce and adjure all allegiance to the King of Great Britain; and that I will bear true faith & allegiance to the State of New York, as a free and Independent State, and that I will in all things to the best of my knowledge & ability Do my duty as a good and faithful Subject of the said State ought to do. So help me God.”
DS, Mr. Hall Park McCullough, North Bennington, Vermont.
1. The oath taken by H was prescribed by the New York legislature. On March 26, 1781, the legislature adopted “An Act for the better securing the independence of this State,” which provided that every person elected or appointed to public office should take an oath of allegiance to the state. At the next session of the legislature, meeting in the fall of 1781, it was enacted that “every attorney, solicitor or counsellor at law” also should take the oath (, 355, 420).