Revolutionary Sermons

A Textual Analysis

Have we the God of hosts for our ally, we might bid

adieu to fear, though the world was united against us.

Excerpt from William Gordon's 1774 "Thanksgiving Sermon"

The sermons used in this project come from two different collections, one published in 1862 and the other in 1876. Both Frank Moore and John Wingate Thornton, the editors of each respective collection, created a compilations of sermons specifically focused on the American Revolution. This both aided the process of identifying sermons for the project while introducing a type of bias in my sources. In total, 21 sermons were used spanning from 1750 to 1783.

  • 1766: The Snare Broken – Jonathan Mayhew, D.D.
  • 1775: Government corrupted by Vice – Samuel Langdon, D.D.
  • 1775: The Duty of Standing Fast in our Spiritual and Temporal Liberties – Jacob Duche, M.A.
  • 1775: A Sermon on the Present Situation of American Affairs – William Smith, D.D.
  • 1775: The Law of Liberty – John Joachim Zubly
  • 1777: The Love of Country – John Hurt
  • 1777: The Separation of the Jewish Tribes – William Gordon, D.D.
  • 1777: An Antidote against Toryism – Nathaniel Whitaker, D.D.
  • 1778: Dancing Exploded – Oliver Hart
  • 1779: A sermon preached before the Honorable Council – Samuel Stillman, D.D.
  • 1783: Ratification of the Treaty of Peace – David Tappan, D.D.
  • 1783: The Divine Goodness Displayed in the American Revolution – John Rodgers, D.D.
  • 1783: Restoration of Peace – George Duffield, D.D.
  • 1750: Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers – Jonathan Mayhew, D.D.
  • 1766: Thanksgiving Sermon on the Repeal of the Stamp Act – Charles Chauncy, D. D.
  • 1770: Election Sermon – Samuel Cooke, A.M.
  • 1774: Thanksgiving Sermon – William Gordon
  • 1775: The Right of Self-Government is from God – Samuel Langdon, D.D.
  • 1776: The True Principles of Government – Samuel West, A.M.
  • 1778: Popular Government – Phillip Payson, A.M.
  • 1780: The Necessity of Civil Government to the Happiness of Mankind – Simeon Howard, A.M.
  • 1783: The United States exalted to Glory and Honor – Ezra Stiles, D.D.