William Tryon's role in the affairs of British America during the
last years of the empire, and his inability to stem the collapse of
that empire, makes for a fascinating story. Royal governor of North
Carolina from 1765 to 1771 and then of New York from 1771 to 1780,
Tryon became a general in the British army attempting to quell the
American rebellion. This biography covers his life in service to
the Crown through the end of the American Revolution.
Paul Nelson argues that Tryon was a talented colonial administrator
and a successful, even popular, governor largely because he
understood American thinking on such basic constitutional issues as
taxation, finance, and trade policy. British home authorities
failed to follow Tryon's sage counsel regarding the governance of
the colonies, advice that might have forestalled the Revolution. In
particular, Tryon, like Edmund Burke and others in Parliament,
could not convince British ministers that Americans would never
accept internal taxes imposed upon them by London.
Once the war broke out and Tryon's role changed from governing to
leading Loyalist American troops, he was an advocate of harsh,
retributive warfare against his former charges. Nelson follows
Tryon's military career, especially his debates with colleagues
such as Sir Henry Clinton on the wisdom of hard-line versus
conciliatory approach to the fighting. And after the war, Nelson
shows, Tryon's connections with those unfortunate Americans who
came out on the losing side of the great imperial struggle retained
an important place in his life.
An exciting drama in its own right, Tryon's story also serves to
illuminate a number of issues important to historians of the
Revolutionary War. Played out on two continents and in two
important American colonies, amid the stirring events that resulted
in the formation of the United States of America, Tryon's life is
significant for understanding many aspects of politics and society
in the Anglo-American world of the eighteenth century.
Originally published in 1990.
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