A clarification on the American revolution and American Revolutionary War

raharris1973

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I believe that in between the British evacuation of Boston in March 1776 and the British invasion of Staten Island on 2 July 1776, all 13 colonies were completely free of occupying British troops, all Royal Governors had fled and the only authority that existed in the 13 colonies were the continental congress and individual state governments loyal to the Continental Congress.

As of July 4th, when America declared independence, Staten Island was occupied, but neither Manhattan nor Long Island were occupied until August.

So this underscores how much reconquest from scratch work the British had to do.

There were people of loyalist sentiments in all 13 colonies, but they did not run any municipal or state authorities to my knowledge.

Is that also your understanding?

As for where the British were present in the March-June period in North America, I believe they were garrisoning Nova Scotia and Canada/Quebec. They might or might not have been occupying forts in between the Great Lakes, Proclamation Line of 1763, Mississippi and Gulf, and Florida.

Does that sum it up accurately?
 
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raharris1973

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Does my estimate above miss any significant British/Loyalist strongpoints in any of the 13 colonies?
 
1863?
There was an attempt to invade Charlestown, SC in June.
The Patriot forces are also pushed out of Canada to Ft. Ticonderoga in this period.
 
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They did not have political control of any of the 13 colonies. They did, however, control most of the forts in modern day Western NY, as well as Florida, Nova Scotia, most of Canada (and would have all of it by June).

It is not exactly clear, but there were running skirmishes between Loyalists and Patriots in the Carolina backcountry for most of the early part of the war, that often were really more municipal and family feuds than political violence, but the Loyalists did own substantial parts of Georgia up river from Savannah I think in this period, and there was of course Cherokee areas that were pro-British in the interior of Georgia. At this time in the war, the Patriots beyond the Appalachians were in a life and death struggle with the Cherokee and were almost exterminated, to the point where they were arming women.

I think there might have been some Tory risings in Delaware (most Colonial states had divides largely along ethnoreligious lines, with the Ulster Scots/Irish/Scottish Presbyterians & West Country Congregationalists generally more supportive of the American cause than the High Church Anglicans from the Southeast of England, and Delaware was no different) during the period, but I'm not sure. I know that their member of Congress, Cesar Rodney, was dispersing a Tory disturbance when he rushed to vote for the Declaration of Independence.
 
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They did not have political control of any of the 13 colonies. They did, however, control most of the forts in modern day Western NY, as well as Florida, Nova Scotia, most of Canada (and would have all of it by June).

It is not exactly clear, but there were running skirmishes between Loyalists and Patriots in the Carolina backcountry for most of the early part of the war, that often were really more municipal and family feuds than political violence, but the Loyalists did own substantial parts of Georgia up river from Savannah I think in this period, and there was of course Cherokee areas that were pro-British in the interior of Georgia. At this time in the war, the Patriots beyond the Appalachians were in a life and death struggle with the Cherokee and were almost exterminated, to the point where they were arming women.

I think there might have been some Tory risings in Delaware (most Colonial states had divides largely along ethnoreligious lines, with the Ulster Scots/Irish/Scottish Presbyterians & West Country Congregationalists generally more supportive of the American cause than the High Church Anglicans from the Southeast of England, and Delaware was no different) during the period, but I'm not sure. I know that their member of Congress, Cesar Rodney, was dispersing a Tory disturbance when he rushed to vote for the Declaration of Independence.
Dang good post.
 
The rebels basically already had control of the municipal government and Congress, so the loyalists needed to wait for the regulars or start a counter uprising from scratch
 
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