Americans of patriot sympathies in London and the colonial strategy for opposition, 1774-1775
The thesis indentifies fifty-one Americans of Patriot sympathies who were resident in London during the political crisis which followed the Boston Tea Party (1774-1775) and who were active in support of the Patriot movement at some point during the crisis. Using this number of Patriots as a focal point, the thesis addresses two problems: to what extent did the advice of their confederates in London influence the policy-making of the Patriot leaders who met in Congress in 1774 and the spring and summer of 1775? And what efforts, if any, did the Patriots make to transcend the limitations of the direct action tactics employed by the Congress in order to negotiate a peaceful settlement with Britain? A survey of the transatlantic correspondence of the number of Patriots in London reveals that Patriot advice from the metropolis reflected the full spectrum of moderate and extremist opinion within the movement at large in America. This fact, together with the fact that the Patriots in London lacked any mechanism for advising the Congress as a whole or claiming authority to define the intentions of the British government, meant that the Patriots in London did not have the means of shaping policy within the Congress,
Flavell, Julie Marie
History
Americans of patriot sympathies in London and the colonial strategy for opposition, 1774-1775. The thesis indentifies fifty-one Americans of Patriot sympathies who were resident in London during the political crisis which followed the Boston Tea Party (1774-1775) and who were active in support of the Patriot movement at some point during the crisis. Using this number of Patriots as a focal point, the thesis addresses two problems: to what extent did the advice of their confederates in London influence the policy-making of the Patriot leaders who met in Congress in 1774 and the spring and summer of 1775? And what efforts, if any, did the Patriots make to transcend the limitations of the direct action tactics employed by the Congress in order to negotiate a peaceful settlement with Britain? A survey of the transatlantic correspondence of the number of Patriots in London reveals that Patriot advice from the metropolis reflected the full spectrum of moderate and extremist opinion within the movement at large in America. This fact, together with the fact that the Patriots in London lacked any mechanism for advising the Congress as a whole or claiming authority to define the intentions of the British government, meant that the Patriots in London did not have the means of shaping policy within the Congress,
americans sympathy london colonial strategy opposition fifty americans sympathy resident london political_crisis follow boston party active support movement point crisis using number focal_point address problem extent advice london influence policy_making leader meet congress effort make transcend limitation direct action tactic employ congress order negotiate peaceful settlement britain survey transatlantic correspondence number london reveal advice metropolis reflect full_spectrum moderate opinion within movement large america fact together fact london lack mechanism advise congress whole claim authority define intention british_government mean london mean shaping policy within congress