Unnatural Rebellion: Loyalists in New York City During the Revolution

by Ruma Chopra

Thousands of British American mainland colonists rejected the War for American Independence. Shunning rebel violence as unnecessary, unlawful, and unnatural, they emphasized the natural ties of blood, kinship, language, and religion that united the colonies to Britain. They hoped that British military strength would crush the minority rebellion and free the colonies to renegotiate their return to the empire. Of course the loyalists were too American to be of one mind. This is a story of how a cross-section of colonists flocked to the British headquarters of New York City to support their ideal of reunion. Despised by the rebels as enemies or as British appendages, New York’s refugees hoped to partner with the British to restore peaceful government in the colonies. The British confounded their expectations by instituting martial law in the city and marginalizing loyalist leaders. Still, the loyal Americans did not surrender their vision but creatively adapted their rhetoric and accommodated military governance to protect their long-standing bond with the mother country. They never imagined that allegiance to Britain would mean a permanent exile from their homes.

Genres: History, American Revolution

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Ruma Chopra is professor of history at San Jose State University.

Reviews

[Michael Hattem · Rating 4 out of 5]

One can hardly attempt to understand the loyalist experience without focusing on New York City, the British (and, therefore, loyalist) headquarters in the colonies during the war. In Unnatural Rebellion: Loyalists in New York City During the Revolution, Ruma Chopra takes a look at the wartime experiences of loyalists in New York City. The title of the book is taken from a recurring phrase used by loyalists to describe the Revolution. In the introduction, Chopra refers to it as a “defensive metaphor” that “generated structures of feeling” and “emerged as a collective denunciation.” However, her promise of exploring this “common loyalist discourse” falls short, as it essentially disappears as the book progresses. What we then get is an examination of the relationship between the loyalists and the city’s British hierarchy as well as their expectations and reactions to events of which they are relegated to the role of spectator.

Chopra explores with great detail the many conflicts between the loyalists and the British authorities. In 1776, following the Battle of Long Island and the rebel retreat into New Jersey, loyalists in the city believed that New York could be made into a living example to the rest of the colonists of the benefits of remaining in the British empire and of “His Majesty’s constitutional commitment to the colonies." Hence, they expected the military authorities to establish constitutional governance and civil rule. But instead the authorities declared martial law and their petitions for civil rule went denied. The authorities’ failure to protect the loyalists from the delinquency of British troops and the lack of priority accorded them during times of shortage further strained the relationship. After Saratoga and the French entrance into the war, loyalists became increasingly frustrated. They had petitioned the Crown to allow them to form their own regiments, but these requests were denied, as were their requests for civil rule out of fears they would “enact rules against military regulations, criminal proceedings against soldiers, and hamper British military campaigns around New York City."

In the end, Chopra writes, loyalists ironically came to understand that “they valued the symbols of the British Empire–– legal protection of property and liberty, civil government, and constitutional processes––more deeply than the Crown's representatives in New York or in London.” Rather than helping to create a beacon for British constitutionalism and liberty in the city that could help win the hearts and minds of fellow colonists, loyalists found themselves at the mercy of military authority and martial law that, if anything, may have helped convince other colonists of the reality of British tyranny.