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Book offers balanced report of Revolution Book offers balanced report of Revolution"Three Peoples, One King : Loyalists, Indians, and Slaves in the American Revolutionary
In grade school, we all learned about the American Revolution and I myself was first introduced to the war as a student in first grade in Boston where the Revolution was writ large by nature of many key events happening in or near this most historic of cities. However, like all wars, the winner got to write up the official story and most of what we learned in school praised the Minutemen, Bunker Hill, George Washington, and in general spoke very poorly of the British loyalists. Not surprising, but I have often wondered how the other side saw things as they unfolded and with Jim Piecuch's new book "Three Peoples, One King: Loyalists, Indians, and Slaves in the American Revolutionary South, 1775-1782" we get a balanced view of the Revolution as it was experienced by those loyal to the Crown in the South. In this sweeping account, Piecuch goes far beyond the normal examination of wealthy British loyalists and looks at slaves and Native Americans in the scope of those who were loyal to the king, thus bringing together a bounty of information and diversity in the complex scene of why some people supported an independent American nation and others clung to England. Piecuch, a professor of American history at Kennesaw State University, is an expert on the early history of South Carolina and covers mainly the events surrounding the Revolution in Charleston and in Savannah, Georgia, offering a focused and adroit view of the very complicated situation leading up to the Revolution. The economic basis of these two port cities was predicated on the function of slave labor in plantation agriculture and also in the daily business of the port itself; Charleston, at the time of the Revolution was (alongside Boston) the most affluent city in the thirteen colonies. Most of the wealth came out of plantation-based exports and those who benefited both - directly and indirectly - including slaves from such exports had a vested interest in not seeing the economic situation change . . . and any change in the political designs at hand could also manifest economic woes. In contrast, beyond the streets of Charleston itself and the posh and orderly plantations lining the rivers of South Carolina, Indians and less-affluent whites lived in the backwoods where communication was difficult and the sense of social order much less complete and nuanced than in places of high society. Indians, for their part, had found the British to offer at the least a stable system of government and trade which they had by the time prior to the Revolution at least come to understand and somewhat profit from, so their desire to retain such a system was understandable. Rural whites were more complicated in their relationship to the crown: while many supported the concept of Revolution, many leading figures in smaller communities had ties to loyalists and were able to spread a British point of view to their neighbors, again encouraging the concept that the crown would better than a new government to further order and economic progress. What makes this book really exciting is Piecuch's steadfast ability to bring a diverse narrative together in a manner that is always engaging and provides rare insight into aspects of colonial life that we almost never encounter in standard accounts. Moreover, Piecuch is a good writer, able to keep his reader on course despite the variety of things going on in the book at once (and trust me, a lot is always happening given that this is a social history touching many lives) and never does his prose seem overly academic or dry. Through close examination of primary sources, Piecuch builds what is a seemingly accurate if sometimes disturbing picture of life in the colonies from 1775 to 1782. Disturbing, that is, because of the amount of sheer terror inflicted on loyalists by supporters of the Revolution. Townsmen in Charleston who failed to support the revoluntionary cause were tarred and feathered, found their homes torched, and otherwise were the victims of bullying at alarming, criminal, levels. While we may wish to remember our founding fathers in a much more positive light, some of the facts at hand indicate that terrorism was, as it often is in revolutionary situations, a method of choice for them to enforce their views and promote their goals. Piecuch also is very astute in his examination of the socioeconomic forces at play in pre-revolutionary times and how the contrasting views of those who supported the Crown and those who did not also displayed their different views towards the continued economic importance of the colonies to England. Many who were in the greatest positions of wealth and power in the colonies were natives of England and had, more or less, come to the colonies to make their fortune with plans to probably return home when such was said and done, although others had firmly established plantations and legacies in the colonial South. Those of less means, as already mentioned, in the more remote parts of South Carolina and Georgia still played a crucial role in the struggle between the concept of an independent nation and a colonial system because they were the pioneers in far reaches of a land that would in time expand. The Indians who lived in the same area were, for the most part, in an uneasy partnership with the British based around trade but with the provision that the Indians would retain a fair share of their land holdings. Certainly, there were already musings on both sides as to how much land the Indians would keep and what would be opened up for further expansion and such was an issue that would continue for another century. While these issues are ones that many historians of the early South have covered, Piecuch presents them in a new light by showing the intricate connection between the crown and various loyalists in the colonies and often, such connections were not as simple as they would appear on the surface. Overall, Piecuch has presented in this book a deep study of an under-examined aspect of the American Revolution and such a study has been very much needed for some time. The University of South Carolina Press has provided beautiful graphic design and production values to this book, presenting a volume that is a delight to read. For anyone seriously interested in the
MIKE WALKER is a journalist based in Gainesville, Florida, who contributes to this and other publications on topics germane to ecology, Southern history, architectural history, and politics. He may be reached with comments at: cloudrace@prontomail.com |
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