The Loyal Traitor

History portrays the Revolution as united Americans rising up against British tyranny. In fact the colonists were equally divided between Rebels Loyalists and neutrals. Joseph Galloway was a leading Loyalist. Before the war he was one of the most powerful and respected men in the colonies. As Speaker of the Pennsylvania Assemebly and a prolific writer he worked to perserve the peace during two decades of unrest. As a member of the Continental Congress he argued for consitutional reform instead of rebellion. When war broke out he joined the British who made him superintendent of occupied Philadelphia. When the British abandoned the city he went to London and became spokesman for the refugees there. He died in exile barred from the country he loved. His story deals with forgotten aspects of the Revolution such as the persecution of Quaker pacifists the British command's reluctance to wage war and how the rebellion divided friends and families.