The objects of this Society are declared to be patriotic, historical, and educational, and shall include those intended or designed to perpetuate the memory of those patriots who, by their services or sacrifices during the war of the American Revolution, achieved the independence of the American people; to unite and promote fellowship among their descendants; to inspire them and the community-at-large with a more profound reverence for the principles of the government founded by our forefathers; to encourage historical research in relation to the American Revolution; to acquire and preserve the records of the individual services of the patriots of the war, as well as documents, relics, and landmarks; to mark the scenes of the Revolution by appropriate memorials; to celebrate the anniversaries of the prominent events of the war and of the Revolutionary period; to foster true patriotism; to maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom and to carry out the purposes expressed in the preamble of the Constitution of our country and the injunctions of Washington in his farewell address to the American people.  [NSSAR Constitution, Article II]

Any male shall be eligible for membership in the Society being a citizen of good repute in the community, is the lineal descendant of an ancestor who was at all times unfailing in loyalty to, and rendered active service in the cause of American Independence either as an officer, soldier, seaman, marine, militiaman or minuteman, in the armed forces of the Continental Congress of any one of the several Colonies or States, as a signer of the Declaration of Independence, as a member of a Committee of Safety or Correspondence, as a member of any Continental, Provincial, or Colonial Congress or Legislature, as a foreign national of, but not limited to, France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden or Switzerland who rendered service in the cause of American Independence or as a recognized patriot who performed actual service by overt acts of resistance to the authority of Great Britain, provided, however, that no person advocating the overthrow of the Government of the United States by use of force or violence shall be eligible for membership in the Society.  [NSSAR Constitution, Article III]