Date of Graduation

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

This work will focus on the study of economic, gendered, and racial minority Loyalists in the American Revolution. The main sources include the Claims Commission Records, government documents, newspapers, diaries, letters, and autobiographies as well as secondary sources dealing with the above mentioned topics. It will specifically look at women in the colonial era. Women occupied a domestic, secondary role in the colonies and the ways that they contributed to and were affected by the war were different than their male counterparts. Previously, historians have not looked at lower ranking women and their experiences in the late eighteenth century. Also, women's roles in society as contributors to and active participants in the war have not received adequate attention. This examination allows readers to understand that women were politically aware, committed, and willing to sacrifice everyday comforts for their ideologies. I will also show how women circumvented the conventions and social norms of the day to achieve their objectives. In addition to looking at the role of women in colonial society, I also look at blacks—both slave and free—who actively aided the British during the war. Approximately thirty-five claims are available which help us understand the roles they played, sacrifices they made, and the recompense they received as a result of their loyalty. White men from the lower ranks of society are examined too, as a way to provide balance and comparison to the treatment that blacks and women received in the same era. The ultimate conclusion reached is that women and blacks were politically as well as ideologically committed and active during the American Revolution. They were aware of the ideas circulating at the time, made their decisions and actively supported loyalty. Their decision to stay within the political system of empire indicates that they made their decisions for many of the same reasons that their more elite counterparts did. It also shows the real sacrifices Loyalists made and how their lives were irrevocably changed as a result of their political alliance.

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