Choosing sides during the American Revolution
As tensions finally came to a head on the battlefields of Lexington and Concord, the people near and around the Thirteen Colonies needed to decide whether to pledge loyalty to the Patriot forces or the British. Before deciding, they needed to consider their own family’s opinions, friends’ choices, and personal political leanings. While some came to their conclusion because of strong personal beliefs, such as Peggy Shippen, others aided one side or the other to serve their self-interests or needs at the time, such as Bernardo de Galvez. Whatever their background, everyone needed to choose which side they would fight for in the American Revolution.
An unlikely ally
Unlike the marquis de Lafayette who sympathized with the ideology of the patriots, Bernardo de Gálvez did not choose to help the American revolutionaries because he believed in their cause. He assisted the Americans because it served the interests of his king and country and weakened Britain, who was an enemy of Spain.
An attractive socialite who secretly helped facilitate treason
During the Revolutionary War, people across North America found themselves faced with a choice of how to respond. Many Indigenous nations tried to remain neutral, but came under pressure to choose between supporting the British or the Patriots. Brant and many other Indigenous leaders sided with the British. They believed the British government would protect their lands from encroaching settlers, and their alliance would secure access to trade and material goods.
An attractive socialite who secretly helped facilitate treason
Peggy’s father Edward Shippen IV held moderate Tory sympathies but remained outwardly neutral as revolutionary fervor started to grow. Seventeen-year-old Peggy’s loyalist leanings didn’t grow until she started attending balls and parties thrown by British officers when they occupied Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from 1777 – 1778. In contrast to the family’s loyalist leanings, Peggy’s sister Elizabeth, married Edward Burd, an eager patriot who fought at the Battle of Long Island.
A loyalist who endured torture and eventually exile
Thomas Brown and many backcountry settlers originally supported the British government because it provided protection against often-hostile Indigenous nations on the border. But the revolutionary governments suppressed Loyalist sentiment. The violence inflicted on Thomas Brown and others who would not support the Revolution often motivated them to fight for the Crown.
A Frenchman who mapped the Revolution
Many officers from France traveled across the Atlantic to fight for the Continental Army. Some were genuine believers in the cause of America, like the marquis de Lafayette. Others saw an opportunity to earn fame that might result in promotion in the French army. Some were simple opportunists who sought to bargain their military expertise for high pay. Du Chesnoy accompanied Lafayette when he traveled to the United States in 1777, but we do not know if he shared the marquis’s emotional enthusiasm for the American cause.
What would you endure to be with the love of your life?
Lucy Knox’s family were Loyalists; her father was an agent of the royal government in Massachusetts before the war. Her husband, however, was a Patriot. When war broke out, the couple faced a decision about which side to support. Lucy chose to go with her husband and join the rebellious Patriots. In doing so, she severed her connection to her family, and never saw them again.
Once paid to quell the Patriot’s rebellion, Conrad found a new life among them.
During the American Revolution, everyone had choices to make about which side to support—British or Patriot—even those not directly impacted by the war. For Conrad Luther, opportunities to choose sides may have presented themselves more than once: first, whether to join the German principalities sending paid armies to the North American colonies on behalf of Great Britain and second, whether to continue fighting on behalf of Great Britain once he began his service in New Jersey.
Ultimately, Conrad chose to fight against the Patriots but before war’s end, signed an Oath of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, renouncing his former support of Great Britain and its armies.
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