Amongst the recent posts at the LRC Blog are:
- The Murdering, Thieving, Enslaving, Unlibertarian Continental Army
- Revising the American Revolution
- ‘Untold Truths About the American Revolution’
- Independence Day
- Re ‘Untold Truths About the American Revolution’
- The Declaration and Conscription
See also Hurrah for King George! by the late Dr. John Attarian.
Some time ago, I was recommended a number of books by a couple of monarchist correspondents (unfortunately, some of them are out of print):
- Dr. Gordon S. Wood: The Radicalism of the American Revolution
- Robert Harvey: A Few Bloody Noses: The Realities and Mythologies of the American Revolution
- Norman Gelb: Less than Glory: A Revisionist's View of the American Revolution (out of print)
- reviewed by Dr. Thomas Fleming in the New York Times 25 years ago: Our Revolution Debunked
- Prof. Wallace Brown:
- Stanley Ayling: George the Third (out of print)
- Kevin Phillips: The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics, Civil Warfare, and the Triumph of Anglo-America
- Kenneth Lewis Roberts: Oliver Wiswell (a novel)
- Lorenzo Sabine: Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution
- Claude Halstead Van Tyne: The Loyalists In the American Revolution (out of print)
- Robert M. Calhoon: The Loyalist Perception (out of print)
- Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton: The Famous Mather Byles: The Noted Boston Tory Preacher, Poet, and Wit, 1707-1788
- Lawrence Henry Gipson: Jared Ingersoll: A Study of American Loyalism in Relation to British Colonial Government
- Richard M. Ketchum: Divided Loyalties: How the American Revolution Came to New York (out of print)
- Brian Cuthbertson: The Loyalist Governor: Biography of Sir John Wentworth (out of print)
- Prof. Bernard Bailyn: The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson
- Paul David Nelson: William Tryon and the Course of Empire: A Life in British Imperial Service
- Sheila L. Skemp: William Franklin: Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King
- Lorett Treese: The Storm Gathering: The Penn Family and the American Revolution
- Kinloch Bull: The Oligarchs in Colonial and Revolutionary Charleston: Lieutenant Governor William Bull II and His Family (out of print)
Posts
2 comments:
I'm fairly conservative, and my own family was (most likely) Tory at the time of the American War of Independence, but, writing as an American, it is hard for me to accept the view that the secession of the American colonies (how I view the conflict -- not a "revolution" per se as happened in France) was an unmitigated disaster.
I would characterize the War for American Independence as more the appearance of a new nation, a new national consciousness, than a "revolution." It turned out to take an anti-monarchial tone (at least on the surface, I maintain that Americans are on some level monarchist -- look how the President, no matter who he may be, is venerated and ascribed almost divine powers).
My own impression is that the pre-war period saw the ascendancy of the radicals in America -- which the stupidity of the ministry in London needlessly abetted. It is a pity that the more concilatory policy apparent in the attempts of the British to negotiate in 1776-78 did not appear prior to the US Declaration of Independence.
On the American side, I think that war really got underway, more conservative views (on issues other than independence) asserted themselves (the Federalist Party of Hamilton, Washington and John Adams should be seen in this light).
In any case, I agree the loyalists have a story that needs to be understood, and I own that I have a good deal of sympathy for their position, particularly in the southern colonies.
I would add a book to your list: Piers Mackesy's The War for America, 1775-1783 which is as good a history of the conflict at the strategic level as you are likely to find anywhere, with emphasis on how the war appeared to the British government and the British military authorities, and how the war fitted into the then world strategic context.
Dear Sir:
Thank you for your perspectives and for your book tip.
I do prefer the term American War for Independence over American Revolution, although -- as the title of this post bears witness -- I do sometimes use the latter term.
I believe the secession to be a mistake -- and perhaps even more so the departure from the monarchical order. I do not, however, see it as an unmitigated disaster -- at least not when it is seen as an isolated event.
You are probably right in what you say about the Presidential office, but it is nonetheless a perversion.
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