Enemies of Liberty: The Loyalists of New York City

In his new book, Unfriendly to Liberty, Christopher F. Minty revises our understanding of the American Revolution by exploring the lives of the many New Yorkers who chose to side with the British in the rebellion. Arguing that would-be “loyalists” formed an organized group long before the events at Lexington and Concord, Minty recounts how these men, elite and nonelite, championed an inclusive political economy that advanced the public good and strongly protested Parliament's reorientation of North American colonial policy during the Imperial Crisis (1763-75). But rather than locating the critical divide in this era, he identifies the major political and social turning point as lying in the disputes that emerged from the Seven Years War (1756-63). Those events, he argues, created a united force that made New York a headquarters for loyalism in the colonies all during the years that followed. “With dazzling research, sharp insights, and gripping narrative,” the acclaimed historian Benjamin L. Carp writes, “Unfriendly to Liberty provides a new vantage point on the New York City's streets and broadsheets, assemblies, and taverns. Christopher F. Minty challenges shallow stereotypes about revolutionary politics, finally giving a full picture not just of the New York's raucous revolutionaries but also their vigorous opponents.”

Originally recorded October 4, 2023.