Pennsylvania’s Revolutionary Militia Law: The Statute that Transformed the State

For nearly a hundred years inhabitants of the proprietary owned by William Penn and his descendants argued among themselves over who would take up arms and defend the land. This impasse ended on March 17, 1777, when legislators of the newly proclaimed Commonwealth of Pennsylvania enacted a law that compelled all men between the ages of eighteen and fifty-three to enroll in the militia, attend stipulated exercise days, and muster for active duty, or pay a fine for each and every neglect of duty.¹ To enforce this statute the House installed a lieutenant and five sub-lieutenants in each of eleven counties and the city of Philadelphia. The rise of seventy-two unheralded men to serve the state as high-ranking civil officials brought an end to a system of patronage that had long been the exclusive domain of the well-born and prosperous. Briefly put, in March 1777 the Revolution in Pennsylvania “got legs.”²

Lieutenants had many responsibilities, the most important of which was the collection and disbursement of proceeds from fines paid by persons whose religious principles, opposition to the Revolution, or simple refusal to endure the hardships of soldiering led them to disobey the militia law. In the period 1777–1783, income from militia fines surpassed £6,000,000. Half of this money provided Pennsylvania with one-sixth of its revenues in those revolutionary years.³ Lieutenants spent the balance for goods and services provided to the militia by thousands of inhabitants, many of whom earned cash for the first time.

The militia law also gave thousands of newly commissioned and noncommissioned officers an opportunity to lead their fellow countrymen.⁴ By the end of 1777 lieutenants enrolled 40,000 inhabitants in the militia, organized them in classes, companies, and battalions, all the while supervising the election of officers. From colonels to corporals, men elected and appointed by their peers learned the art of delegating responsibility and exercising authority. As a result, a new cadre of leaders entered public service, won posts in local and state government, and changed the thrust of Pennsylvania politics forever.

Money and authority. The torrent of new and unencumbered cash awakened an appetite for financial gain on the part of many inhabitants who had never enjoyed it.⁵ Many of the state’s inhabitants began to imagine a different and better life, and many of them began to achieve it.

The £6,000,000 in militia fines collected from some 50,000 delinquent militiamen documents a downward redistribution of wealth that not only buttressed the idea of revolution but also ignited seams of rebellion throughout the state. More than any battlefield victory, more than any patriotic manifesto or political promise, this massive reallocation of cash and a rash of new leaders contributed as much to the rise of democracy in Pennsylvania as the policies of the revolutionary government. Indeed, the reach and ambition of the militia law transformed the state. There is no evidence that lawmakers planned it that way, but neither can it be ruled out. After all, a revolution was underway.

The First General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania convened in Philadelphia on November 28, 1776. Even as members gathered on the second floor of the State House to present their credentials and elect officers—the Continental Congress occupied the ground floor—the British army marched on Philadelphia. Despite the desperate need for fighting men, many of the state’s voluntary militias, known as associators, quit the front line. Pennsylvania had encouraged volunteer militia associations since 1747, when Spanish privateers threatened commerce on the Delaware River during King George’s War. Volunteers also defended a Quaker colony that refused to mobilize troops during the French and Indian War and Pontiac’s Rebellion. In the wake of the Coercive (known in the colonies as the Intolerable) Acts passed by Parliament in 1774, volunteer companies began organizing throughout Pennsylvania to prepare for the impending crisis. These men refused to risk their lives while nonassociators remained at home. “All shall go, or none will go,” they vowed.^6...