Choosing Sides: Loyalists in Revolutionary America

Abstract

The introduction also considers why the British army relied more on foreign troops than American-born loyalist regiments and how the terms of the Peace Treaty angered propertied loyalists but honored promises of freedom to some previous slaves. Fewer documents feature the backcountry and South, such as a slave memoir and slave petitions, as well as white accounts of Mohawk, Creek, or Choctaw experiences.

Choosing Sides: Myalisls in RevolutUmary America. By Ruma Chopra. (I an ham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2013, Pp. ix, 243. $45.00.)

Ruma Chopra presents a useful collection of primary sources penned by loyalists, accompanied by brief introductions to each source, with a substantial introduction to loyalism. This volume contributes to a growing trend to include and understand loyalist experiences within the history of the American Revolution, in this case through their own words. The main introduction offers a summary of loyalism that counteracts stereotypes of loyalists as colonial aristocrats, sycophants, or losers incapable of embracing revolutionary progress. It is not a deliberate historiographic treatment, but rather an overview of loyalism and its British-Atlantic context to situate the documents. Readers of this journal may be interested in the portrayal of Anglicanism and revolutionary religious culture. It recognizes that Anglicans and other anti-evangelicals occupied every point of the spectrum from loyalist to patriot, it considers the particular circumstances of Quaker loyalists, and it credits Anglicanism, in part, for the loyalty of Mohawks, particularly Mary Brant. As the title suggests, Chopra presents loyalism as an active choice made amid war and revolutionary struggle. This is a helpful perspective for those who consider loyalism merely a default posidon-as a persistence of colonial-era loyalties-rather than also as an active, measured choice. Chopra argues that contingency, violence and local coercion, and the proximity of the British army, more than fixed ideological positions prompted loyalist choices. Biographical sketches reinforce these points and show how polarizing events and overt local pressure in 1774 to 1776 both compelled people to choose sides and "undermined the rights of individuals to make a free choice" (13). The book benefits from the inclusion of African American, Native American, and women loyalists. The introduction also considers why the British army relied more on foreign troops than American-born loyalist regiments and how the terms of the Peace Treaty angered propertied loyalists but honored promises of freedom to some previous slaves. More unique is its mention of all twenty-six British colonies, including the thirteen that did not rebel, in terms of their revolutionary circumstances, and as destinations for the loyalist diaspora. Chopra depicts loyalists with understanding and even appreciation, as active participants, "as passionate as their adversaries" (2) and as a "courageous minority" (3).

The primary sources, typically excerpts of one to two pages, are organized thematically. They contain footnotes to original or published sources and select secondary literature, but are not annotated. The half-dozen or so lines of introduction to each document capably situate the texts (e. g. letters, newspaper articles, public documents, sermons, and pamphlets) that present largely elite loyalist perspectives. The several loyalist Plans for Union may be best understood if compared with other patriot plans for reconciliation, including Benjamin Franklin's, and several British ones, as well as a more detailed contextual understanding of how the poor timing of many plans inhibited any serious consideration of their content. The years 1774 to 1776 were crucial in determining loyalism in the northern and middle colonies, as Chopra argues, but this period is not highlighted in primary source selections. The documents are drawn overwhelmingly from northern, urban locations, including New York and Philadelphia with large populations of loyalists. Fewer documents feature the backcountry and South, such as a slave memoir and slave petitions, as well as white accounts of Mohawk, Creek, or Choctaw experiences. The exchange between George Washington and Sir Guy Carleton aptly show different interpretations on the status of slaves behind British lines at the peace treaty. The selections focus on the thirteen rebelling colonies, with only a little coverage of other British colonies, except Nova Scotia in the last chapter on loyalist exiles.

Reading loyalists' own words may be the best antidote for loyalist stereotypes that have persisted in American popular culture long after they have been dismissed by North American historians. This collection provides a convenient sampling of many useful loyalist documents, and therefore an opportunity to understand both the role of ideas and events, principle and contingency in the choosing of sides.