Liberty's Exiles Summary

Liberty’s Exiles Liberty’s Exiles by Maya Jasanoff, follows Americans who remained loyal to the crown during the American Revolution. Jasanoff uses the effects the revolution had upon these loyalists, such their inability to bring the majority of their belongings with them when they fled America and how the British Empire reacted to such complications, as a way to argue what she claims is the “Spirit of 1783.” As a secondary theme she argues the concept of the loyalists’ exodus from America to every corner of the British Empire as a diaspora. She carefully goes over the impact the loyalists had upon the areas they settled in, such as the Bahamas where the population doubled or Sierra Leone, where they became a part of a colony of ex-slaves. In this regard, Liberty’s Exiles is similar in style to Daniel Rodgers’ Atlantic Crossings. Jasanoff weaves together accounts from multiple loyalists and places them in context to …show more content…
To say that these people were leaving their homeland in a migration does not seem to be a particularly accurate term to define the events that occurred. In essence, the thirteen colonies were a part of the British Empire so the loyalists were British citizens, and considered themselves as such. Once the British lost in the American Revolution, their home was no longer a part of the British Empire. This newly gained independence would have altered the colonies, regardless of whether the loyalists remained in the colonies or not. It is understandable that many wanted to leave because of the fear of retaliation by the patriots, but it is difficult to name it a diaspora when the homeland they knew was never going to return. Since the colonies underwent a political transformation it is unclear how many loyalists would have left due to the changes occurring within the newly founded