British Colonial Military

Brigitte Schweigert
HST 327.01
February 20, 2017

The Military in British Colonies of North America

There has been some sort of military in existence alongside some sort of America. In British colonial times, the military consisted of a militia for the colonies and provincial armies. In analyzing the military, it is important to look at the composition of the military, the military members’ reasons for serving in the military, and their understanding of their service. In this paper, those aspects will be discussed. The military in the colonies was mainly a militia in the beginning. The militia in the colonies was different than the militia in England. The only people who were welcomed into the militia in England were free, land-owning men.
Matthew Ward, in his article “An Army of Servants: The Pennsylvania Regiment during the Seven Years’ War,” discusses the provincial soldiers in Pennsylvania. His research brought him to the conclusion that a majority of the ranks of provincial soldiers in Pennsylvania were made up of indentured servants. Combining facts such as age, occupation, and birthplace, Ward paints a picture of the men who signed on as provincial soldiers. The soldiers in Pennsylvania were older, had urban occupations, and were foreign-born. A lot of recruits were from Philadelphia, which was the location of two-thirds of the indentured servants living in Pennsylvania at the
In the beginning, the military made it more appealing to join the military by offering extra benefits, such as more money. There was also the draft used to recruit men. The draft was often enough of a threat to compel men to volunteer, if only to avoid being drafted. Many soldiers joined the military in order to better their lives through economic means. These men were often indentured servants who sought the money offered for service in order to compensate their masters. These men also sought to leave their lives behind. The men who enlisted in the military during the colonial years in America were not necessarily joining for the most noble of reasons. Because of this, many of the men were not pursuing some idea of “patriotism” or “nationalism” that later soldiers would consider part of their reasons for joining the military. In Fred Anderson’s article, “Why Did Colonial New Englanders Make Bad Soldiers? Contractual Principles and Military Conduct during the Seven Years’ War,” he discusses how the solders signed contracts for their service. These contracts offered the men benefits for their service, such as food, clothing, and money. Anderson explains that these promises were the basis for many a soldier’s reasons for desertion and/or mutiny. Especially for mutinies, where oftentimes soldiers would negotiate with their superiors for what they were offered or something better. Many soldiers