Daniel Leonard belonged to a family long prominent in Massachusetts. He attended Harvard and delivered the salutatory address at his graduation exercises in 1760. He then studied law in the office of Samuel White, Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He married White's daughter in 1767.
Further Reading on Daniel Leonard. There is no full-length study of Leonard, but biographical sketches and information on him are in Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (1864; repr. 1966); Claude H. Van Tyne, The Loyalists in the American Revolution (1902; repr. 1959); James H. Stark, The Loyalists of Massachusetts (1907); and Carl …
More than simply the losers in the war, loyalists were the obverse of the new nation’s ideology without which the Revolution is incompletely understood. A sample DBQ document set on loyalism may be found on historyteacher.net. Objectives. 1. To understand how ideologies were constructed before and during the Revolutionary War.
Loyalists and Patriots . The Revolutionary War era was a time of immense turmoil for the American colonists, no matter where their allegiances lay.
| The Colony of Massachusetts Bay Massachusetts Bay Colony | |
|---|---|
| Historical era | British colonization of the Americas Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640) |
Loyalists, those colonists that affirmed Britain’s authority over the colonies, were described at the time as "persons inimical to the liberties of America.". In the republican ideology of the new nation, tories were vilified as offenders against the public good who acted out of ignorance, cupidity, or moral obtuseness.
Ask the students to consider the impact of the practices of the film’s Col. William Tavington, who was based on Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton; the differences between the fictional Tavington and the real Tarleton were considerable, not least in Tarleton’s surviving the war.
Benjamin Franklin, a newspaper publisher and Enlightenment scientist, became a Patriot. He had secured a royal post for his son William Franklin as governor of New Jersey, and William chose to be a Loyalist. The two never spoke again. Enslaved Africans and African Americans usually chose to support the British cause.
The American Revolution was many things—a tax revolt, an international debate over good government and consent, and a revolution in pursuit of sovereignty. But at its heart, it was also a civil war between colonial Americans. The colonists increasingly had to take sides in this civil war.
Crispus Attucks worked as a sailor and on the docks, and he joined fellow dockworkers on March 5, 1770, to protest now-hated British policies. In the Boston Massacre that night, he became the first African American to die for the American Revolution.
Patriots were people who wanted the American colonies to gain their independence from Britain. They wanted their own country called the United States.
What happened to loyalists during the war? 1 Other names for patriots included Sons of Liberty, Rebels, Whigs, and Colonials. 2 Other names for loyalists included Tories, Royalists, and the King's Friends. 3 Many loyalists lived in New York City. It was known as the Tory capital of America. 4 Not everyone picked a side. Many people tried to remain neutral so they could avoid conflict and the war. 5 Patriot towns created juries of men called "committees of safety". Patriots would swear an oath to these men in order to get a pass to travel freely through patriot controlled land. 6 Members of the Sons of Liberty wore a medal with a picture of a tree on it.
Many loyalists lived in New York City. It was known as the Tory capital of America. Not everyone picked a side. Many people tried to remain neutral so they could avoid conflict and the war. Patriot towns created juries of men called "committees of safety".
Perhaps the most famous patriot at the time was George Washington who led the Continental Army and later became the first President of the United States. Other famous patriots included Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, Ethan Allen, Patrick Henry, and Ben Franklin. These people are often called the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Loyalists at the outbreak of war: selections from letters and commentary, 1775-1776 PDF
From the evidence of these documents, characterize the political atmosphere in America in 1775-1776.
" What is a Loyalist?: The American Revolution as Civil War ," by Edward Larkin, Common-Place: The Interactive Journal of Early American Life, August 2007 (American Antiquarian Society with the University of Oklahoma)