Patriot (American Revolution)

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This article concerns Patriots in the American Revolution. For other uses, see Patriot (disambiguation).

Patriots (also known as Americans, Whigs, Revolutionaries, Congress-Men or Rebels) was the name the colonists of the British Thirteen Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution called themselves. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation. Their rebellion was based on the political philosophy of republicanism, as expressed by pamphleteers such as Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Paine.

The term “Patriot” was in use by American colonists prior to the war during the 1760’s, referring to the American Patriot Party. Members of the American Patriot Party also called themselves Whigs after 1768, identifying with members of the British Whig Party, i.e., Radical Whigs and Patriot Whigs, who favored similar colonial policies.

As a group, Patriots comprised men and women representing the full array of social, economic, ethnic and racial backgrounds. They included college students like Alexander Hamilton, planters like Thomas Jefferson, merchants like Alexander McDougall, and plain farmers like Daniel Shays and Joseph Plumb Martin. They would tar and feather the loyalists.

Those colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown called themselves Loyalists or "Tories". In addition, many people remained neutral or said nothing.

Many Patriots were active before 1775 in groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are referred to today by Americans as the Founding Fathers of the United States.

List of prominent Patriots

Most of the individuals listed below served the American Revolution in multiple capacities.

Statesmen and office holders

• John Adams
• John Dickinson
• Benjamin Franklin
• John Hancock
• Patrick Henry
• Thomas Jefferson
• James Madison

Pamphleteers and activists

• Samuel Adams
• Alexander Hamilton
• William Molineux
• Thomas Paine
• Paul Revere

Military officers

• Nathanael Greene
• Nathan Hale
• Francis Marion
• James Mitchell Varnum
• Joseph Bradley Varnum
• George Washington

See also

• British Whig Party
• Radical Whigs
• Patriot Whigs, later Patriot Party

References

Bibliography

• Joseph J. Ellis. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation (2002), Pulitzer Prize
• Mark E. Kann; The Gendering of American Politics: Founding Mothers, Founding Fathers, and Political Patriarchy, Praeger (1999) online version
• Robert Middlekauff; The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (2005) online version
• John C. Miller; Origins of the American Revolution. (1943) online version
• John C. Miller; Triumph of Freedom, 1775-1783, (1948) online version
• Stuart A. P. Murray; Smithsonian Q & A: The American Revolution, HarperCollins Publishers by Hydra Publishing, New York (2006) p. 31.
• Robert Previdi; "Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of America," Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 29, 1999
• Ray Raphael. A People's History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence (2002)
• Cokie Roberts. Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation (2005)

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