Essay #2: Rhode Island Loyalists: Outline

I. We were divided before the revolution so one side shouldn't have to convert for our colony to cooperate after the revolution.
---1. divided by economic class lines.
-----a. some counties remained loyal while others didn't.
-------1. "Newport and the Narragansett county remained loyal, whereas the agrarian north, which was in control of the government, declared Rhode Island's independence of Britain two months before the radical party was able to achieve that end in the continental congress"(The Ward Hopkins controversy and the American Revolution in Rhode Island).
---2. Patriots were unfair and didn't trust us.
-----a. "The assembly passed an act at its June session, 1776, which became known as the Test Act. This extraordinary piece of legislation empowered any member of the Assembly who suspected his neighbor of being unfriendly to the cause of the United American colonies, to summon such neighbor before him, and demand that he should subscribe to the Declaration" (The Diary of Thomas Vernon).

II. Us loyalists wanted to keep contact and connections with Britain.
---1. would benefit the colony and make us stronger.
-----a. but because the colony was made up of more colonists for independence many loyalists emigrated.
-------1. "Throughout the state, the character of communities had changed. Families who had remained loyal to the king had emigrated; many chose to live in Canada among other loyal British subjects" (The Thirteen Colonies: Rhode Island).
---------a. "The population of Rhode Island had been about 58 thousand in 1774. Eight years later in 1782, it was only 52 thousand" (The thirteen colonies: Rhode Island).

III. A stable society depends on staying loyal to the King.
---1. If we go against the King, then our society with slowly crumble. But if we remain loyal we will remain stable and secure under the King.
-----a. Following British law provided stability for the colony.
-------1. "Loyalists had strong cultural and economic ties to england; they thought that social stability depended on a government anchored by monarchy and aristocracy, perhaps most of all, they feared democratic tyranny" (Textbook).


works cited:
- kling, andrew. The Thirteen Colonies: Rhode Island. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc, 2002.

-Roark, James. The American Promise. 4. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009.

-Thompson, Mack. "The Ward-Hopkins Controversy and the American Revolution in Rhode Island." v.16, no.3Jul. 1959 363-375. 11 Nov 2008 http://www.jstor.org/stable/1916950.

-Vernon, Thomas. "The Diary of Thomas Vernon." Google Books. 2006. 16 Nov 2008 http://books.google.com/books?id=clqxUiI0fKoC.