Loading next page...
/lp/university-of-pennsylvania-press/clothed-in-robes-of-sovereignty-the-continental-congress-and-the-ltGnUpY77D
- Publisher
- University of Pennsylvania Press
- Copyright
- Copyright Society for Historians of the Early American Republic.
- ISSN
- 1553-0620
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
JOURNAL OF THE EARLY REPUBLIC (Winter 2012) The most disappointing gap in the book is the lack of explicit engagement with the rich historiography on New York's loyalists, in particular Judith Van Buskirk's Generous Enemies: Patriots and Loyalists in Revolutionary New York (Philadelphia, 2002). Van Buskirk argued that the clear lines between loyalist and patriot were often muddied by personal and familial ties in and around the occupied city. Chopra, by contrast, claims that the presence of the army ``locked'' in political allegiance (44). Moreover, because the arguments of Chopra's loyalists were so often theoretical and idealistic, rather than personal or pragmatic, she finds herself restricted to a top-down description of the loyalist community. These criticisms aside, this is a nuanced and thought-provoking study of the painful process some New Yorkers endured in order to stay loyal to the British Empire.3 Se rena Zab in is an associate professor at Carleton College. She is the author of Dangerous Economies: Commerce and Status in Imperial New York (Philadelphia, 2009). Clothed in Robes of Sovereignty: The Continental Congress and the People Out of Doors. By Benjamin H. Irvin. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Pp. 392. Cloth, $34.95). Reviewed by
Journal
Journal of the Early Republic – University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: Oct 22, 2012