Challenges the traditional perception that Loyalists were ostracized as traitors to the United States, after the American Revolution. The DePeyster family of New York was one of the first families of New Amsterdam, ranking among the wealthiest of New York during the early days of the American Republic. The DePeysters were also unapologetic Loyalists, serving in the King’s forces during the American Revolution. After the war, the four sons left the United States for Canada and Great Britain. Ten years later, one son, Frederick DePeyster, returned to New York, embraced his Loyalist past, and utilized his British connections to become a prominent and successful merchant. The DePeysters went on to become true Patriots, zealously supporting US interests in the War of 1812. This book examines the forces at work in the lives of the DePeyster family and the decisions they made to navigate their way from loyal subjects of the British crown to loyal citizens of the United States. How this transformation occurred challenges many of the preconceived ideas we hold both about the Revolution and the formation of the American identity in the years following the war. “From Loyalists to Loyal Citizens recasts the image of the Loyalist into a more sympathetic mold. These people were not one-dimensional ideologues, but human beings, with all the concerns, cares, and hopes of other Americans. McKito has crafted a persuasive study of Loyalists in the aftermath of the tumultuous Revolutionary War, looking at the DePeyster family of New York to understand how many Loyalists returned from exile and successfully reconciled themselves with the young American republic.” — Joshua M. Smith, author of Borderland Smuggling: Patriots, Loyalists, and Illicit Trade in the Northeast, 1783–1820 “From Loyalists to Loyal Citizens is an intriguing look at exiled Loyalist Frederick DePeyster and his family and how easily they reentered the society and business world of republican New York. Both former Loyalists and Patriots quickly returned to the goal of making money. The account of life in Canada is especially good.” — Philip Ranlet, author of The New York Loyalists: Second Edition

Freedom of speech was restricted during the Revolutionary War. In the great struggle for independence, those who remained loyal to the British crown were persecuted with loss of employment, eviction from their homes, heavy taxation, confiscation of property and imprisonment. Loyalist Americans from all walks of life were branded as traitors and enemies of the people. By the end of the war, 80,000 had fled their homeland to face a dismal exile from which few would return, outcasts of a new republic based on democratic values of liberty, equality and justice.

Though scores of texts, films and stories have been told about the American Revolution from the perspectives of our Founding Fathers and their followers, comparatively little is known about those colonists who resisted the revolutionary movement, and tried desperately to preserve their nation’s ties to the British Empire. Choosing Sides: Loyalists in Revolutionary America shows us that America’s original colonies were not nearly as united behind the concept of forming free, independent states as our society’s collective memory would have us believe. There were, in fact, numerous colonists, slaves, and Native Americans who counted themselves among the Loyalists: those who never wanted to sever ties with the English crown and who viewed revolution as an unnatural and unlawful mistake. Too often overlooked, these men and women made valid and valuable arguments against the formation of the United States—both weighing the costs of revolution and the perilousness of existing without the Empire’s command— arguments that even hundreds of years into America’s existence were echoed and championed both within and beyond our borders. Colonists from commoners to clergymen had nuanced and complex reasons for wanting to remain under British control, and an awareness of these reasons and their origins paints a more historically accurate portrait of the American populous around the time of our country’s founding. This volume not only showcases Dr. Chopra’s comprehensive analysis of Loyalism and its arguments, but includes letters, legislation and even poems written by Loyalists during and after the Revolutionary War. Choosing Sides lays a detailed foundation of facts for its readers and provides them entry points to the debate surrounding the genesis of the United States. It is both a primary source and a touchstone for original interpretations and discussions.

To celebrate the 450th title in the Men-at-Arms series, this book examines in much more depth than previously the units and the uniforms of a still-controversial army: the many thousands of American colonists who chose to fight for King George during the Revolution. As well as the better-known corps from the Atlantic seaboard, the author covers the units raised for service against the Spanish in the Floridas, the Caribbean islands and Central America. The text is illustrated with portraits, photographs of rare surviving artefacts, and with color reconstructions by Gerry Embleton, the respected expert on 18th century American forces whose work was recently exhibited in the Smithsonian Institute.

Fascinating stories of ordinary people in the Middle Colonies who remained loyal to the Crown.