A01=Amy Watson
American
American Revolution
Atlantic history
Author_Amy Watson
British Empire
Britons
Category=NH
Category=NHB
Category=NHD
Category=NHK
Category=WQH
Ediburgh
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
George Washington
Georgia
James Oglethorpe
John and Abigal Adams
London
New York City
Origins
Patriot
Patriotism
Robert Walpole
Salutary neglect
Seven Years' War
Thomas Jefferson
War of Jenkins' Ear
War of the Austrian Succession
William Pitt
Product details
- ISBN 9780300263213
- Dimensions: 156mm
- Publication Date: 26 Aug 2025
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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A new history of the Patriot movement before the American Revolution, tracing its origins to reform movements in British politics
The American revolutionaries—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John and Abigail Adams—called themselves Patriots. But what exactly did it mean to be a Patriot? Historian Amy Watson locates the origins of Patriotism in British politics of the early eighteenth century, showing that the label “Patriot” was first adopted by a network of British politicians with radical ideas about the principles and purpose of the British Empire. The early Patriots’ ideological mission was not American independence but, rather, imperial reform: Patriots sought to create a British Empire that was militant, expansionist, confederal, and free.
Over the course of the next half century, these British reformers used print media and grassroots mobilization efforts to build an empire-wide political party with adherents in London, Edinburgh, New York City, and the new colony of Georgia. While building this party, the Patriots’ advocacy drew Britons into a series of violent political conflicts over taxes and civil liberty, as well as three expansive global wars, the War of Jenkins’ Ear (1739–48), the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), and the Seven Years’ War (1756–63). Patriot ideas and organizations came to divide Britons on increasingly sharp political lines, laying the groundwork for the revolutionary decades to come.
The American revolutionaries—George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John and Abigail Adams—called themselves Patriots. But what exactly did it mean to be a Patriot? Historian Amy Watson locates the origins of Patriotism in British politics of the early eighteenth century, showing that the label “Patriot” was first adopted by a network of British politicians with radical ideas about the principles and purpose of the British Empire. The early Patriots’ ideological mission was not American independence but, rather, imperial reform: Patriots sought to create a British Empire that was militant, expansionist, confederal, and free.
Over the course of the next half century, these British reformers used print media and grassroots mobilization efforts to build an empire-wide political party with adherents in London, Edinburgh, New York City, and the new colony of Georgia. While building this party, the Patriots’ advocacy drew Britons into a series of violent political conflicts over taxes and civil liberty, as well as three expansive global wars, the War of Jenkins’ Ear (1739–48), the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48), and the Seven Years’ War (1756–63). Patriot ideas and organizations came to divide Britons on increasingly sharp political lines, laying the groundwork for the revolutionary decades to come.
Amy Watson is assistant professor of history at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She lives in Birmingham, AL.
