Past Meeting

At our public meeting on Sunday, April 18, 2010 the featured presentation was:

Loyalty in Revolutionary Pennsylvania

by Clarissa F. Dillon, Ph.D.

The old labor union song, "Which Side Are You On?" is overly simplistic when considering the question of loyalty in Pennsylvania during the American Revolution. The Tory Act of 2 January 1776, enacted by the Continental Congress, spoke of "...honest and well meaning but uninformed people ..." which is better, but still too vague. It was easy, then and now, to recognize Loyalists like Joseph Galloway of Philadelphia. Many so clearly committed left for Canada or Great Britain. What about the others – those whose loyalty was less obvious or more variable? Their convictions and experiences in Pennsylvania during and immediately after the war will be explored. Of particular interest are the "perception of loyalty" and its effects. The diversity of the colony's population makes the investigation challenging because of political, economic, social, cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity.

Clarissa is an accomplished speaker and authority on a number of aspects of life in the 18th century. Clarissa has a doctorate in History from Bryn Mawr College. She is a member of the Society, and is a founding member of Past Master in Early Domestic Arts.

This presentation was held at the at the Easttown Library & Information Center in Berwyn, PA.