"A beautifully written, richly descriptive, and   thoroughly-researched account of the importance of Staten Island in the   American Revolution. This is an important book, demonstrating that a close   examination and analysis of local politics, economics, and social structure   can hold the key to understanding national history."--Carol Berkin,   author of Revolutionary Mothers  Of crucial strategic importance to both the British and the Continental   Army, Staten Island was, for a good part of the American Revolution, a   bastion of Loyalist support. With its military and political significance,   Staten Island provides rich terrain for Phillip Papas's illuminating case   study of the local dimensions of the Revolutionary War.  Papas traces Staten Island's political sympathies not to strong ties   with Britain, but instead to local conditions that favored the status quo   instead of revolutionary change. With a thriving agricultural economy,   stable political structure, and strong allegiance to the Anglican Church,   on the eve of war it was in Staten Island's self-interest to throw its   support behind the British, in order to maintain its favorable economic,   social, and political climate.   Over the course of the conflict, continual occupation and attack by   invading armies deeply eroded Staten Island's natural and other resources,   and these pressures, combined with general war weariness, created fissures   among the residents of "that ever loyal island," with Loyalist neighbors   fighting against Patriot neighbors in a civil war. Papas's thoughtful study   reminds us that the Revolution was both a civil war and a war for   independence - a duality that is best viewed from a local perspective.

That Ever Loyal Island: Staten Island and the American Revolution PDF

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