The New York Loyalists

The New York Loyalists is a narrative history of the American Revolution in the State of New York. Beginning in 1765 with the terrible violence against the Stamp Act in New York City, some moderate men sought to restrain extremists and tried hard to contain their violence. These moderates of New York angered New England because they refused to tolerate Boston's cheating during the non-importation crisis. Yet, when war broke out in 1775, New York was firmly in the patriot camp. Despite an unsuccessful British invasion of northern New York in 1777 and the loss of New York City in 1776, the state remained, overall, a center of support for the Revolution. The book discusses the fate of the loyalists after the return of peace in 1783, and even travels out of the country to show how Canada was settled by exiled loyalists. The second edition incorporates new research and corrects minor errors. It contains some new illustrations, a preface linking New York with loyalists in other states, and an essay that comments on historical work published on the subject since 1986.