essay #2: rough draft numbero uno

The loyalists of all the colonies were not treated as they should have been. Our opinions were never heard and many of us just decided to emigrate so that we wouldn’t have to deal with the drama of going against the colonial government. I don’t see why so many people were against staying loyal to the King. Our loyalty to Britain is what kept our relationship so healthy over all these years. By trying to change the laws and become independent, our relationship with Britain and the King of England will fall apart. Loyalty is what has kept us alive this far. Rhode Island may have been somewhat divided before, but by trying to make our own laws there will probably be more disagreements and divisions between different groups of people.

Even before the American Revolution began we were a divided colony. Whether it was by economic class or patriotism and loyalists, Rhode Island wasn’t a united colony. Some counties believed that staying loyal to the King was the best idea, while others thought that trying to become an independent colony would be a wise decision. “Newport and the Narragansett counties remained loyal, whereas the agrarian north, which was in control of the government, declared Rhode Island’s independence of Britain” (The Ward-Hopkins controversy and the American Revolution in Rhode Island). We may have had a better chance of staying loyal if all government officials that were for independence weren’t all located in the same county. When they were located so close to each other, they didn't have to travel far to try to make new laws and they didn't need to wait for responses from any other government figures because they were all in the same general area. Another reason it was kind of unfair was because the Patriots didn’t trust anyone but themselves. They passed the Test Act in 1776 that “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). Patriots were allowed to turn loyalists in to the government for punishment. Afterwards we were forced to support the Declaration for Independence, which is something we didn't want to have anything to do with. We wanted to keep connections with Britain, which would prevent selfish colonial government leaders from creating unnecessary acts that would basically only affect us loyalists in a bad way.

The only way we are going to keep our strength as a colony is to keep connections and ties with Britain. We need to remain under the King’s watchful eye for our own protection. Without Britain there to act as our guardian we will most likely slowly fade to failure and become no longer a colony of the New World. Many of our loyalists have already decided to emigrate because they felt that independence from Britain was an extremely bad choice. We loyalists feel that we need the protections and already written out laws that Britain offers to remain happy and successful. Of those loyalists that emigrated “many chose to live in Canada among other loyal British subjects” (The Thirteen Colonies: Rhode Island). Because so many loyalists were deciding to emigrate, the population of loyalists in Rhode Island decreased rapidly. Without a stable relationship with Britain no one will want to wait around to see what happens with the decisions to give independence a try.

We need to keep a stable society and that all depends on staying loyal to the King of England. If we decided to go against the King and become independent, I believe we will slowly fall apart and become a non-existent colony. Remaining loyal will help us stay stable, secure, and happy, just under the King’s control. Which truly is a small price to pay when we will be practically guaranteed a good life with the mother-land watching over our shoulder. With the laws of Britain already being followed by the colonists we are stable. There is no point in waiting for the colonial government to create their own laws for us to learn and follow when we already have laws in place from Britain. “[We have] strong cultural and economic ties to England” (Textbook) and we don’t need to change anything.

[conclusion to be added later]