Oath of a Freeman
1630s loyalty pledge / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Oath of a Freeman?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
SHOW ALL QUESTIONS
The “Oath of a Freeman” was a loyalty pledge required of all new members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s.[1] Printed as a broadside by Stephen Daye in 1639, it is the first document from a printing press known to have been produced in the present day United States. No copies are known to exist, but the text is known from a handwritten copy and two books, New-England’s Jonas Cast Up at London (1647) and Massachusetts’s General Lawes and Libertyes (1648).[2]
A supposed original printing of the document surfaced in 1985,[1] but it was later revealed to be the work of forger Mark Hofmann.[3]