History ETDs

Publication Date

8-6-1970

Abstract

This dissertation has sought an answer to what American Loyalists precisely thought about the major issues of the Revolution. The most comprehensive statement of Loyalist thinking on the issues of the Revolution is to be found in their newspapers between 1765 and 1781. A systematic examination of all Loyalist newspapers during the years of controversy and war indicates: the revolutionary issues the Loyalists considered most important, the strengths and weaknesses of this minority press; and that the Loyalists were not unthinking, narrow reactionaries, but held ideas that spanned a wide spectrum on the problems of the Revolution.

The chapter organization consists of: The Literature of Conservatism; The Maintenance of Orthodoxy: Representation and Taxation; The Maintenance of Orthodoxy: The Constitution; Conspiracy; Reporting a Decade of Crisis; The Crisis of 1767-1770: Townshend, Troops and Non-Importation; A Deceptive Lull, Tea and Coercion; The Press Between the First and Second Congress; Revolutionary Government: Congress, Democracy, Taxation and Tyranny; Rebel Army and Rebel Currency; "The Deceitful Gaul"; A Search for Reconciliation; The American Revolution: A Loyalist Interpretation; Conclusion; and a Note on the Future of America.

The manuscript vwas read at various stages by Robert Coughlan, William Dabney, Florence Mathson, Noel Pugach, and Gunther Rothenberg; I am greatly indebted to them for their suggestions and criticism. The final two drafts were typed by my mother, who cheerfully put up with what must have seemed inconsequential changes. My father is perhaps not fully aware of the ways in which he helped.

During my work on this topic, no aid has been more important than that of William Dabney • From the inception of the work to its completion, his help was irreplaceable. I am grateful to him for directing my interests toward colonial and revolutionary America, and for his example of an historian, who is both a scholar and a man who has energies to love those about him.

Level of Degree

Doctoral

Degree Name

History

Department Name

History

First Committee Member (Chair)

William Miner Dabney

Second Committee Member

Illegible

Third Committee Member

Noel Harvey Pugach

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

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