Questions for Class Discussion

1. Why have the Loyalists been largely forgotten in American historical memory? Do they deserve to be better known? Do you agree with the text that they were often tragic figures?
   
   
2. Did the Loyalists act primarily out of conviction and feelings of patriotism toward Britain, or out of self-interest?
   
   
3. If you had been an African American, free or slave, in 1776, would you have tried to back the Patriot cause or the Loyalist cause? Why?
   
   

Questions for Class Discussion

1. What was radical and new in the Declaration of Independence, and what was old and traditional? What did statements like all men are created equal mean in their historical context, and what did they come to mean later?
   
   
2. Was military strategy or politics the key to American victory in the war? How did the two coincide?
   
   
3. If the "Model Treaty" that John Adams authored had been the basis for the American alliance with France, would the results of the Revolution have been the same? Do you agree that Benjamin Franklin's French alliance is an example of "practical self-interest trumping idealism," as the authors state? In what other situations during the Revolutionary War does practical self-interest trump idealism?
   
   
4. Did the Loyalists deserve to be persecuted and driven out of the country? What difference does it make to understand the Revolution as a civil war between Americans as well as a war against the British?
   
   
5. How important were the diplomatic relations between European nations in determining the success of the American revolution? How significant a role did the French play in securing American independence? How significant a role did the rest of Europe play? How did the American Revolution change diplomatic relations in Europe?
   
   
6. What has the Revolution meant to later generations of Americans, including our own? Do we still think of the United States as a revolutionary nation? Why or why not?