When Loyalty was Treason

Not every American wanted independence. Not every loyalist was a traitor. And not every story of the American Revolution has been told.

History celebrates the Patriots who fought to create a new nation. But what of the thousands who remained loyal to the Crown-and paid dearly for it?

When Loyalty Was Treason: British Voices of the American War of Independence turns the familiar story of the Revolution around, revealing the conflict through the letters, diaries, accounts, and observations of those who found themselves on the losing side of history.

From royal governors and British commanders to Loyalist families, soldiers, and civilians, these firsthand voices reveal a Revolution far more divided and complicated than the one often remembered. Homes were attacked. Families were separated. Fortunes disappeared. Neighbors became enemies. Men and women were forced to decide where their loyalties lay-and live with the consequences.

Through the words of figures including Thomas Hutchinson, John Burgoyne, William Howe, Henry Clinton, Joseph Brant, Elizabeth Lichtenstein Johnston, and others, readers encounter the war as they experienced it: uncertain, personal, and unfolding without knowledge of who would ultimately prevail.

What does loyalty mean when the world around you calls it treason?

When Loyalty Was Treason restores voices too often left at the margins of America’s founding story and invites readers to experience the Revolution from the other side.

For readers of American history, British history, Loyalist history, historical letters and diaries, genealogy, and anyone who believes the past deserves to be heard in its own words.

Elizabeth Winslow

Author of Lost Letters of the American Revolution