Why did early Americans choose to become patriots or loyalists during the American Revolution?

How did they make the decision to either stand with or against their neighbors?

Did political beliefs really drive them to support one side of the imperial conflict over the other?

In this episode, we explore answers to these questions about how and why Americans chose to support the sides they did during the American Revolution, by looking at the lives of two young soldiers from Connecticut: Moses Dunbar and Nathan Hale.

Taking us through the lives, politics, and decisions of these young men is Virginia DeJohn Anderson, a professor of history at the University of Colorado-Boulder and author of The Martyr and the Traitor: Nathan Hale, Moses Dunbar, and the American Revolution.

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/181

 

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Complementary Episodes

• Bonus: J.L. Bell, The Boston Stamp Act Riots
• Episode 112: Mary Beth Norton, The Tea Crisis of 1773
• Episode 123: Revolutionary Allegiances
• Episode 129: J.L. Bell, The Road to Concord, 1775
• Episode 130: Paul Revere’s Ride Through History
• Episode 152: Bernard Bailyn, Origins of the American Revolution
• Episode 172: Kenneth Daigler, American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War

 

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