Historical and political reflections on the rise and progress of the American rebellion : in which the causes of that rebellion are pointed out and the policy and necessity of offering to the Americans a system of government founded in the principles of the British constitution, are clearly demonstrated

Joseph Galloway

G. Wilkie, London, 1780

[American Revolutionary War: A Fascinating Contemporary Window into the American Loyalist Perspective]  Bound in 3/4 polished navy calf over marbled boards.  Spine stamped in gilt, top edge gilt.  Line of text crossed out in contemporary ink at bottom of p. 107.  8vo. (viii), 135, (1) pp. 

  Galloway was the leader of the Loyalist cause.  He was an American attorney from Maryland, Speaker of the Pennsylvanian Assembly, and member of the First Continental Congress.  During the First Continental Congress, Galloway advocated a Plan of Union between the American colonies and Great Britain.  Significantly, he refused election to the Second Continental Congress and opposed the Declaration of Independence.  During the Revolution Galloway was the most prominent collaborator with British forces and served as an aide to commander-in-chief, Gen. William Howe.  He planned attacks on Continental forces, recruited over 80 spies, helped develop British strategy, and was appointed Superintendent of occupied Philadelphia in 1777 after the British captured the city.  As British fortunes waned, Galloway fled to Britain in 1778, and later testified as a government witness in the inquiries of General Howe's conduct of the war.  Galloway was the chief representative of the 80,000 - 100,000 exiled American loyalists who were displaced by the Revolution.  He proposed a written constitution and joint legislature with the British Empire. In this work Galloway argues "the rebellion of the Colonies [is] without reasonable foundation" and that the causes mostly stem from the history of the settlers of New England.  "The welfare and existence of Great-Britain as an independent empire, depend on the recovery of her lost authority over the Colonies, and on a more perfect union with them."  References: Robert M. Calhoon, The Loyalists in Revolutionary America 1760–1781 (Harcourt Brace Jovanavich, 1965); Howes G-39; Sabin 26431; Gephart 3261; Reese, The Revolutionary Hundred 60.