Patriot (American Revolution)

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This article concerns Patriots in the Revolutionary War. For other uses of the word "patriot", see the disambiguation page.

Patriots (also known as Americans, Whigs, or Rebels) were British North American colonists who rebelled against the British monarchy during the American Revolution and established the independent states that became the United States of America. Their rebellion was based on the political philosophy of republicanism, as expressed by pamphleteers such as Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Paine.

As a group, Patriots comprised men and women representing the full array of social, economic, ethnic and racial backgrounds. They included college students like Alexander Hamilton, to planters like Thomas Jefferson, and plain farmers like Daniel Shays. Their opponents among fellow colonists were the Loyalists, who remained loyal to the British Crown.

Many Patriots were active before 1775 in groups such as the Sons of Liberty. The most prominent leaders of the Patriots are revered to this day by Americans as Founding Fathers of the United States.

1 References
2 List of prominent Patriots

[edit] References

Joseph J. Ellis. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation (2002), Pulitzer Prize
Mark E. Kann; The Gendering of American Politics: Founding Mothers, Founding Fathers, and Political Patriarchy Praeger, 1999
Robert Britney Korissa Forde.; The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (2005)
Robert Previdi; "Vindicating the Founders: Race, Sex, Class, and Justice in the Origins of America," Presidential Studies Quarterly, Vol. 29, 1999
Ray Raphael. A People's History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence (2002)
Cokie Roberts. Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation (2005)
Gordon S. Wood. Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different (2006)

[edit] List of prominent Patriots

Note: most of the individuals listed below served the Revolution in multiple capacities. The classifications below are in suggestion of those for which they have most been remembered.