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By FRANCIS G. WALETT Worcester State CollegeCopyright 197S Amtr icon Anttquorien SocietyPHILADELPHIA - “The cries of ruined families and the curses of the distressed composed the grand chorus that attended yourtriumphant progress to the city of your residence — The hoofs of your horses were drenched in gore, and the bones of your slaughtered brethren crackled under the wheels of your carriage — Let the remembrance of these things sit heavy on thy soul.”That is how “Incognitas” greeted the prominent Loyalist, Joseph Galloway, in the Pennsylvania Packet, January 2,1778.Galloway (1731-1803), a wealthy lawyer, merchant, and powerful politician of Pennsylvania, had worked for a peaceful settlement of the dispute with Britain from the outset of the quarrel. Sure that the riotous Bostonians had been wrongin the famous Tea Party, he was equally certain that they should be punished. When Charles Thomason, John Dickinson, and Thomas Mifflin induced Philadelphia to express its “friendly and affectionate” regard for Boston when that port was closed by the British in 1774, Joseph Galloway was very angry.Elected to the First Continental Congress, the urbane, influential Galloway proposed a plan to promote reconciliation with the mother country. As soon as the meeting convened he went to work “to find out the Temper' of the Delegates,” and he wrote another Loyalist, Gov. William Franklin of New Jersey (the son of Benjamin Franklin), that he thought the^ members of Congress would f behave with Temper and 11 Moderation.” Joseph Galloway 1 was disappointed, however, whenhis conciliatory plan of union was defeated by one vote.Disgusted with the course of events and growing revolutionary temper of the people, Galloway retired from the Continental Congress in 1778. Soon he took refuge behind British lines and was condemned by the Patriots as a traitor. His views were clearly set forth in a Candid examination of the mutual claims of Great Britain and the colonies, printed in New York, in 1778 by James Rivington. When he returned to Philadelphia with General Howe's redcoats in 1777, Joseph Galloway was greeted by Patriot writers with scorn.Galloway was positive in his political views, and his ideas were doubtless shared by many Loyalists. “I have looked for our rights in the law of nature,” he said, “but could not find them in a state of nature, but always in a state of political society. I have looked for them in the constitution of the British government, andthere (bund them.”During the British occupation of Philadelphia Galloway assisted General Howe in every way he could, and he remained confident that the American rebellion would soon be crushed. He held the office of Superintendent of the Police,was a constant informer for the British, and helped in .recruiting Loyalist troops. His optimistic reports of an uprising of Loyalist support in the Atlantic states did not materialize as expected, however, and he had to leave Philadelphia when the British evacuated the city in June 1778.As early as the fall of 1774 the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts had condemned Loyalists as “infamous betrayers of their country”; soon after the Continental Congres had called on Patriots to set up committees to enforce the economic boycott andexpose violators as “enemies of American Liberty.” Words and warnings by Liberty Bovs were followed by violent intimidation — whipping, tarring and feathering, etc.cTreatment of the Loyalists was harsh, but this has usuallybeen the lot of those on the wrong (losing) side of a revolution. And who is to say that Patriots were not justified in dealing severely with the Loyalists? They did give much aid to the enemy; often they were spies or informers; they sold food and other goods to the British; and thousands took up arms and fought for Britain.Punishment of these subversives was at times cruel but feelings were running high. And “Appeal to the inhabitants of Philadelphia (1779) declared, “The Tories, the Tories will yet be the ruin of you!.. They are now busy engaged in undermining your liberties. . .who prevailed on the savages of the wilderness to join the standard ofthe enemy? The tories!. . Who advised and who assisted in burning your towns, ravaging your country and violating the chastity of your women? the Tories!. . .In short, who wish to see us conquered, to see us Slaves, to see us hewers of wood and drawers of water? The Tories!”Loyalists were abused everywhere in the Patriot press. No matter that most were honorable and decent people with sincere convictions. To have opposed the American war effort and to have supported Britain was enough to attract the unbounded wrath of the Patriots.The slaveowning Anglican clergyman, Jonathan Boucher of Maryland, might freely express his Loyalist views in both the press and pulpit; but as people grew more hostile he wrote that he had to preach “for more than six months. . .with a pair of loadedpistols on the cushion.” It wasn’t long before Boucher had to leave for England.One irate American in the Pennsylvania Packet (August 8, 1779) rabidly urged Patriots to drive out “every baneful wretch who wishes to see you fettered with the chains of tyranny.. .send them to the island of Britain.. .Never let them return to this happy land — never let them taste the sweets of that independence whichthey strove to prevent. Banishment, perpetual banishment, should be their lot.”No one can say for sure how many Joyalists there were at any given time, and the number varied greatly as conditions changed. Probably a majority of them were lawyers, doctors, clergymen, and large landholders but there are many exceptions and it is an oversimplification to distinguish Loyalists and the Patriots as the haves and have-nots. The supporters of Britain seem to have been most numerous in the central states; New York had perhaps one-half of them, and the Patriots called New Jersey and Pennsylvania “enemy country”.Without question the Loyalists suffered much for their convictions and choice of sides during the American Revolution. About loo.ooo left America never toreturn. In so doing they abandoned their homes and all of theirproperty. But no sympathy was wasted on them by the Patriots.Few of the Loyalists were compensated for their losses: the British government awarded pensions to those who had held official positions and some were relocated in new homes. Most of them lost everything, however.Such are the fortunes of losers in revolutions and political upheavals.AFOR T H BF^OMB hither hrttkr tredefmm,v Add ktr whnt mm Ihring,gtttfnTtry mimicry,A Ptrdement, end King,g they me/i g*. gt,(i, tr • teggtng mfiedgt.With fkm W wkb ftnfrntglike CbsrWi end Jiomi ejeU,They rtheueftnr Liberty,Jkd fid ut dk fir grid,Jrnl t peering, tfe. fk JetthHet end Ttriet,Dmct meed nt hend in M,Like doji they fiemmd tk them,Jridfetten m fir rind.Add e pithing, tfe.Onrhrrthren in Amtriee,Witbtyremf tky grieve, * jki they tt mek as freifi tkir deedt, Wethdet tkf m deceive.And e peering, tfe.7iVirlWPMNrvilnllnWIVffflK'jkd ed their trade they've deft,Send tkfter me left tt ftrve,N .With ftkry emi SkveryAmtriee twey treet,Aed finer they mid dregmn themedJf they mid mtJUmit.jkd e peering', tfe.%f heir pnrpefi mid net fiit,Iky'd never egein/i tk petpdfigke Ftr Mentfirid, erfer Bute,Jkd e picking, tfe.Am®ji iLjft/fttfffrrr tot wftrmM tkmj But mtkim Iradfc rtrfr iri^r,tfe.fknkt nttttkPnlnet,And fit wk mid deny nt right,Or ted m if tkf dm.And n fitting, tfe.SknU they mrjni dement rrfufe,Gmtu if Liherty,Cmdnft fieh Tmutrt tt tk Brith, AJeyrUkt tt ike,S AWf ft**'wJd gt, nnd t finringwt veid gyttTtmriOd.1R1L AM D Printed! AMERICA Mritki, into Year MDCQJOCY»Tirados against the Tories were published
Newspaper Details
Hammond Daily Star
Hammond, Louisiana, US
Fri, Jan 23, 1976
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Donna T.
UT, USA 11 Feb 2019
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