Classic study including extensive appendix of forfeited estates. Topics include the rise of the Loyalist Party, final organization, war against the loyalists, county inquisitorial organizations, activities of loyalists after issuance of the Declaration of Independence, activities of the commissioners on loyalists (1776-81), confiscation and sale of the property of loyalists, emigration of loyalists to Great Britain, Canada and Nova Scotia, and treatment of loyalists by Great Britain. Alexander Clarence Flick was Sometime University Fellow in History at Columbia University and Professor of European History at Syracuse University.

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

Of crucial strategic importance to both the British and the Continental Army, Staten Island was, for a good part of the American Revolution, a bastion of Loyalist support. With its military and political significance, Staten Island provides rich terrain for Phillip Papas's illuminating case study of the local dimensions of the Revolutionary War. Papas traces Staten Island's political sympathies not to strong ties with Britain, but instead to local conditions that favored the status quo instead of revolutionary change. With a thriving agricultural economy, stable political structure, and strong allegiance to the Anglican Church, on the eve of war it was in Staten Island's self-interest to throw its support behind the British, in order to maintain its favorable economic, social, and political climate. Over the course of the conflict, continual occupation and attack by invading armies deeply eroded Staten Island's natural and other resources, and these pressures, combined with general war weariness, created fissures among the residents of “that ever loyal island,” with Loyalist neighbors fighting against Patriot neighbors in a civil war. Papas’s thoughtful study reminds us that the Revolution was both a civil war and a war for independence—a duality that is best viewed from a local perspective.

In the 1986 first edition, Ranlet argued that loyalty to the British crown was much weaker in New York State on the eve of independence than historians have believed. Here he appends a note on subsequent studies that buttress his argument. He examines details of specific events such as the Burgoyne Disaster, dimensions such as the military aspect, specific individuals, and organizations such as the Committees of New York City. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.

Essays presented at a conference held at Tarrytown, N.Y., Nov. 2-3, 1973, and sponsored by Sleepy Hollow Restorations and the New York State American Revolution Bicentennial Commission. Bibliography: p. 163. Includes index.