Title
That Ever Loyal Island : Staten Island and the American Revolution / Phillip Papas.
ISBN
9780814768686
Published
New York, NY : : New York University Press, [2009]
Copyright
©2009
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource
Other Standard Identifiers
10.18574/nyu/9780814768686.001.0001 doi
Call Number
F127.S7 P37 2007
Dewey Decimal Classification
974.72602
Summary
Of crucial strategic importance to both the British and the Continental Army, Staten Island was, for a good part of the American Revolution, a bastion of Loyalist support. With its military and political significance, Staten Island provides rich terrain for Phillip Papas's illuminating case study of the local dimensions of the Revolutionary War.Papas traces Staten Island's political sympathies not to strong ties with Britain, but instead to local conditions that favored the status quo instead of revolutionary change. With a thriving agricultural economy, stable political structure, and strong allegiance to the Anglican Church, on the eve of war it was in Staten Island's self-interest to throw its support behind the British, in order to maintain its favorable economic, social, and political climate. Over the course of the conflict, continual occupation and attack by invading armies deeply eroded Staten Island's natural and other resources, and these pressures, combined with general war weariness, created fissures among the residents of "that ever loyal island," with Loyalist neighbors fighting against Patriot neighbors in a civil war. Papas's thoughtful study reminds us that the Revolution was both a civil war and a war for independence-a duality that is best viewed from a local perspective.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 18. Sep 2023)
Available in Other Form
print 9780814767245
Frontmatter
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 The Crossroads of the Middle Colonies The People, Society, and Environment of Staten Island
2 "An Unfriendly Disposition Towards the Liberties of America" Staten Islanders and the Colonial Resistance Movement
3 "As the Tempest Approaches" Staten Island and the Whig Defense of New York City
4 "Our Inveterate Enemies" Staten Islanders and the Arrival of the British Fleet at New York
5 The Price of Loyalty
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
