The 30 Minute Rule begins July 15 at 7:00 PM EDT. An Initial Bid Must Be Placed By July 15 at 6:00 PM EDT To Participate After 6:00 PM EDT
Rare unused Revolutionary War-dated printed enlistment broadside issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts under Governor John Hancock, 8.5 x 6.5, headed, in part, “A Resolve prescribing a form of Inlistment for the Men belonging to this Commonwealth, who shall Inlist into the Service of the United States, to continue for the term of Three Years.” Adopted by the Massachusetts House of Representatives on November 27, 1780, and approved by the Senate two days later, the broadside supplied local officials with the official enlistment form for Continental Army recruits. The full printed enlistment pledge reads:
“We the Subscribers do by severally inlist ourselves into the Service of the United States of America, to continue in that Service for a Term of Three Years unless sooner regularly discharged: We engage to be under the Command of the General Officers of the United States of America, which are or may be appointed, and faithfully obey and observe all such orders, as we from Time To Time shall receive from our Officers; and shall be under such Regulations, in every respect, as are or may be provided by the Army of the United States.”
The broadside concludes with the printed names of Governor John Hancock, Caleb Davis as Speaker of the House of Representatives, Jeremiah Powell as President of the Senate, and John Avery as Secretary of the Commonwealth. In very good to fine condition, with a small area of paper loss to the left edge, and overall creasing and light staining.
Issued during the later years of the Revolutionary War, the broadside reflects Massachusetts’s efforts to raise long-term manpower for the Continental Army as the conflict entered a prolonged phase following the initial campaigns of independence. Hancock, former president of the Continental Congress and the most recognizable signer of the Declaration of Independence, served as governor of Massachusetts from 1780 to 1785, overseeing wartime mobilization and state support for the national cause.
