British Friends of the American Revolution

This volume is the culmination of Jerome Reich's research on conflicting political ideologies current in England and America during the second half of the eighteenth century and those English individuals who attempted - albeit unsuccessfully - to reconcile them. These short chapter studies profile a dozen British men and women who, for diverse reasons, consistently, sincerely, and successfully opposed the policy of the British government toward its thirteen colonies before and during the American Revolution and helped prepare the way for the recognition of the United States as an independent nation. Reich demonstrates how a mixture of political expediency, constitutional scruples, and a desire for reform at home led prominent British politicians, economists, and leaders of public opinion to sympathize with the colonial point of view after 1776. This book is ideal as a supplementary text for courses in colonial American history, the American Revolution, and U.S. constitutional history.