The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 2 of 2

Egerton RyersonProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.3
Word count
1.2M words
Chapters
121

Tags

English Originals World History Historical ReappraisalPolitical StancePatriotismHistorical ResearchImmigrant NarrativeColonial North AmericaLoyalistsSocial ObservationAmerican IndependenceModern China

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Loyalists of America and Their Times, Vol. 2 of 2 by Egerton RyersonAuthor: Ryerson, Egerton, 1803-1882,Language: English, Class: E201: History: America: Revolution (1775-1783), Release Date: Feb 20, 2008

Editor's review

This is the second volume of Egerton Ryerson's two-volume The Loyalists of America and Their Times, a public-domain history prepared by Project Gutenberg. It focuses on the Loyalists who sided with Britain during the American Revolution, examining their political positions, religious views, experiences of migration, and the wider context of the era. The author was a prominent figure in Canadian education and religion, and his writing carries a distinct period stance and argumentative tone—both a source of its historical value and something the reader should approach with caution. For researchers, the book offers a primary text for understanding the Loyalist narrative tradition and the intellectual origins of Canadian conservatism; for general readers, it fills in a side often overlooked in histories centered on the Patriots. It is best read alongside works from the Patriot perspective, distinguishing factual statements from the author's evaluations and keeping a critical eye.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. First get a basic outline of the Revolution before reading, so you are not carried along by a single stance.
  2. Mark evaluative statements as you read and record them separately from factual claims for later analysis.
  3. Read alongside a general history from the Patriot perspective and compare how each side narrates the same events.
  4. Read Volume 2 in sequence with Volume 1, clarifying the figures and events before delving into the chapters.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
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  37. 37
  38. 38
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  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
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  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
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  75. 75
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  77. 77
  78. 78
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  80. 80
  81. 81
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  83. 83
  84. 84
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  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
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  100. 100
  101. 101
  102. 102
  103. 103
  104. 104
  105. 105
  106. 106
  107. 107
  108. 108
  109. 109
  110. 110
  111. 111
  112. 112
  113. 113
  114. 114
  115. 115
  116. 116
  117. 117
  118. 118
  119. 119
  120. 120
  121. 121

FAQ

Can I read Volume 2 without having read Volume 1? Yes, but you will face some obstacles. Volume 2 continues the figures and events from the previous volume, so reading it directly may leave you feeling that the background is abruptly introduced. It is advisable to first skim Volume 1's table of contents and concluding chapters to understand the author's overall framework and core arguments before moving on to Volume 2, which will make for smoother comprehension.
Is this book's stance objective? Not neutral. The author, Ryerson, shows clear sympathy for the Loyalists, and his writing often carries an argumentative and defensive tone; some of his evaluations reflect nineteenth-century views rather than contemporary historiographical consensus. Readers should treat it as a partisan primary narrative rather than an objective general history, and read it critically.
Is it suitable for historical research? It is suitable as primary material for studying the Loyalist narrative tradition and the intellectual origins of Canada, but it should not be used alone as a basis for historical fact. It is advisable to cross-check with contemporary scholarship, archives, and other period documents, and when citing it, to note the author's stance and the date of composition, avoiding treating the book's evaluations as settled conclusions.

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About the author

Egerton Ryerson Author · Canadian · 1803–1882

Egerton Ryerson (1803–1882) was a Canadian Methodist minister and educator, and the founder of the public school system in Upper Canada (present-day Ontario). He founded the weekly Christian Guardian and served as Chief Superintendent of Education for more than thirty years, promoting the establishment of a free public school system. The library holds three of his works: the autobiography The Story of My Life and the two volumes of The Loyalists of America and Their Times. The latter surveys the Loyalists and their era during the American Revolutionary War and bears a clear stamp of documentary compilation and advocacy, while the autobiography reviews his personal experience and educational practice. His writing, chiefly historical documentation and discussion of public issues, is plain in style and carries both documentary value and the marks of its time. Because public information is limited, the specific editions and circumstances of composition remain unclear.