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Article: Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves, and the American Revolution.(Book Review)
- Article from:
- History Today
- Article date:
- October 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 History Today Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Rough Crossings Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution Simon Schama BBC Books 448 pp 20 [pounds sterling] ISBN 0 563 48709 7
THE BRITISH LOYALISTS WHO LEFT the United States after 1783, like the emigres who fled France after 1789 or Russia after 1918, were the shrapnel of revolution. The explosive force of social and political turmoil in America spread shards of Britishness across the globe. In the years after the American Revolution, most of them landed in Nova Scotia, the West Indies and Britain. Some ended up in East Florida, Bermuda, the Bahamas and even India. A major fragment ultimately fell to earth in West Africa.
Because the Loyalists ...