Daniel Leonard. Daniel Leonard (May 18, 1740 – June 27, 1829) was a lawyer from colonial Massachusetts and a Loyalist in the American Revolution .
Loyalists were those who remained loyal to British rule, while Patriots supported colonial independence and self-rule within the context of the American Revolutionary War.
He fled to British-occupied Boston for safety. In 1774 and 1775, Leonard, writing under the name " Massachusettensis ," wrote a series of letters in support of royal government that were published in a Loyalist Boston newspaper, the Massachusetts Gazette. John Adams, writing as "Novanglus," answered the letters in the Boston Gazette.
Born in Norton, Massachusetts, Leonard was a member of a prominent family who made their fortune from their iron works in Taunton, Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard College, Leonard began to practice law in Taunton.
Lawyer Daniel Leonard became one of the most notorious Loyalists in Britain's North American colonies. In 1774 Leonard published "Massachusettensis," a series of widely reprinted articles in support of British efforts to quash the colonial rebellion.
Loyalists who lived in areas controlled by the patriots were in constant danger from radical patriots. Many of them lost their homes and businesses. Many loyalists left the country and went back to Britain. Others decided to help the British fight the patriots.
Leonard was a convinced Loyalist; he denied the notion of a mere common allegiance to the Imperial Crown. The king could only appear under such a system as king of each seperate colony and if these were constitutionally and not absolutely governed, the consequence would be chaos.
Loyalist- a colonist who supported the crown/king of England • Patriot- a colonist who rejected British rule over the colonies during the American Revolution Activity: 1.
Many had valuable ties with the British and jobs in the government. Loyalists believed in peaceful reconciliation but were met with insults and mistrust because they did not believe in the Patriots' cause. Most Patriots resisted enlisting African Americans to the cause, but the British had no such compunctions.
were those colonists of the Thirteen Colonies who violently rebelled against British control during the American Revolution and in July 1776 declared the United States of America an independent nation. Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War.
How did Leonard think the patriots had affected everyday life in the colonies? They had sent everyday life into chaos, and now people struggled to complete even the most basic tasks.
Thomas Paine in Common Sense (1776), observed that the Loyalists were: Interested men, who are not to be trusted; weak men, who cannot see; prejudiced men, who will not see; and a certain set of moderate men, who think better of the European world than it deserves. . . .
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The Patriots were not a tolerant group, and Loyalists suffered regular harassment, had their property seized, or were subject to personal attacks.
Loyalists wanted to pursue peaceful forms of protest because they believed that violence would give rise to mob rule or tyranny. They also believed that independence would mean the loss of economic benefits derived from membership in the British mercantile system. Loyalists came from all walks of life.
Great Britainloyalist, also called Tory, colonist loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. Loyalists constituted about one-third of the population of the American colonies during that conflict.