The Claim of the American Loyalists (eBook)

When, at the beginning of the last quarter of the eighteenth century, it became increasingly evident that the thirteen American Colonies would revolt from Great Britain and attempt to establish their independence, and when it became necessary for all men to take sides on the great question, a large number of Americans of wealth and abilities remained loyal to their King. The motives which actuated these men were, of course, various; some were honorable, others selfish. But to the ardent patriot, blinded by zeal for liberty, nothing could justify, or even palliate, such conduct. As a consequence, the Tories of the American Revolution suffered not less in reputation than in estate, and names which would otherwise be found on the roll of honor in the history of Colonial America. are now but synonyms of reproach. One of the most active and influential of these Tories, and, consequently, one of the most despised, was Joseph Galloway, a Pennsylvania lawyer, politician, and pungent pamphleteer; but hardly more effectually has the soil of an English graveyard buried from sight his mortal remains than has the mass of opprobrium heaped up by partisan hatred hidden the memory of his deeds in the land of his birth. This pamphlet, which is the most well-known of all his pamphlets, contains a very clear exposition of the nature and necessity of the supreme authority of Parliament over the Colonies. It criticizes the acts of the Congress, and makes it very evident that its author would not have anything further to do with such assemblages. An attack upon this pamphlet, entitled "An Address to the Author of the 'Candid Examination' was soon issued, for which Dickinson was in part responsible. This was in turn answered by Mr. Galloway in a 'Reply.'