Presentation at the 2022 NCHE Conference
Hamiton’s Representation of Loyalists
StatutesandStories.com is proud to present the following presentation at the 2022 Conference for the National Council for History Education (NCHE): Reconciling Patriot Versus Loyalist Communities Following the Revolutionary War: Attorney Alexander Hamilton’s Representation of Loyalists and Hamilton’s Phocion Essays.
The theme for the 2022 NCHE Conference is Historical Communities of Promise and Practice. The PowerPoint tells the story of how Alexander Hamilton understood the importance of protecting the rights of an insular minority community during and after the Revolutionary War, despite the risk to his reputation and the unpopularity of this cause.
Copied below is an abstract of the presentation along with images of the PowerPoint slides, which are available upon request:
The Revolutionary War was not merely a struggle for independence, it was also a civil war between British loyalists and American patriots. This session explores the interaction of loyalist and patriot communities following the war and Hamilton’s efforts to protect loyalists from discrimination/retaliation. As the British seized territory during the war, control over hostile populations shifted. Because the British remained in New York City until Evacuation Day in 1783, animosity was particularly acute in NY. Hamilton understood the importance of successfully re-integrating loyalists. His Phocion essays argued that the rule of law protects all minorities in a democratic civil society.
The PowerPoint was presented by Dr. Tom Oller from Boston University and Adam Levinson, Esq., from StatutesandStories.com. Additional materials are available at the NCHE website, www.ncheteach.org, including information about future NCHE conferences. Images and links to the primary and secondary sources used in this presentation can be found here.
