Would You Have Been a Patriot or a Loyalist?

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 3 July 2023

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When Americans think back to the War of Independence, most are apt to feel that, had they lived back then, they would have been Patriots for sure. In retrospect, the decision to rebel and get out from under the thumb of British rule seems inevitable. Yet only around a third of colonists ever declared themselves as revolutionaries, and even among the country's Founding Fathers, it wasn't always obvious if they would stay loyal to Great Britain or become rebels, right up until the signing of the Declaration of Independence. As H.W. Brands, historian, professor, and author of Our First Civil War explains, the decision to align with the side of the Loyalists or the Patriots was complex, and not only had to do with the kind of policy issues we often think about in regards to the war, but also personal factors related to respect and ambition. He talks about how George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were actually very unlikely Patriots and what ultimately got them to embrace the revolutionary cause, and why Franklin's son chose differently and remained a Loyalist. We also discuss why John Adams threw in his lot with the Patriots, and why Benedict Arnold flipped sides.

Transcript

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0:00.0	For Atmike here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.
0:11.7	When Americans think back to the war of independence, most are out to feel that, how they live back
0:16.0	then, they would have been patriots for sure.
0:18.8	In retrospect, the decision to rebel and get out from under the thumb of British rule seems
0:22.9	inevitable.
0:23.9	Yet only around a third of colonists ever declared themselves as revolutionaries, and even
0:28.2	among the country's founding fathers, it wasn't always obvious if they would stay loyal
0:31.8	to Great Britain or become rebels, right up until the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
0:37.5	As H.W. Brands, historian, professor, and author of our First of the War explains, the
0:42.3	decision to align with the side of the loyals where the patriots was complex, and not only
0:46.3	had to do with the kind of policy issues we often think about in Reef Arts of the War,
0:50.1	but also personal factors related to respect and ambition.
0:53.3	He talks about how George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were actually very unlikely
0:57.2	patriots and would ultimately got them to embrace the revolutionary cause, and why Franklin's
1:01.5	son shows differently and remained a loyalist.
1:04.0	We also discussed why John Adams threw in his lot with the patriots and my Benedict
1:07.5	Arnold flip sides.
1:09.3	After shows over, check out our show notes at a-wim.is-patreon.
1:27.2	All right, H.W. Brands, welcome back to the show.
1:34.3	Do you want me to be with you?
1:35.8	We had you on last time to talk about Teddy Roosevelt and how he was the last romantic.
1:41.1	Brought you back on the podcast to talk about another book, Our First Civil War.
	...

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