The Folly of Revolution: Thomas Bradbury Chandler and the Loyalist Mind in a Democratic Age

In this penetrating biography of Thomas Bradbury Chandler, S. Scott Rohrer takes readers deep into the intellectual world of a leading loyalist who defended monarchy, rejected rebellion and democracy, and opposed the American Revolution.

Talented, hardworking, and erudite, this Anglican minister from New Jersey possessed one of the Church of England’s most outstanding minds. Chandler was an Anglican leader in the 1760s and a key strategist in the effort to strengthen the American church in the years preceding the Revolution. He headed the campaign to create an Anglican bishopric in America—a cause that helped inflame tensions with American radicals unhappy with British policies. And, in the 1770s, his writings provided some of the most trenchant criticisms of the American revolutionary movement, raising fundamental questions about obedience, subordination, and rebellion that undercut Whig assertions about republicanism and popular control. Working from Chandler’s library catalog and other primary sources, Rohrer digs into Chandler’s political and religious beliefs, exploring their origins and the events in British history that shaped them.

An intriguing and thoughtful reappraisal of a consequential figure in early American history, this biography will captivate students, scholars, and lay readers interested in politics and religion in Revolutionary-era America.

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The Folly of Revolution: Thomas Bradbury Chandler and the Loyalist Mind in a Democratic Age

In this penetrating biography of Thomas Bradbury Chandler, S. Scott Rohrer takes readers deep into the intellectual world of a leading loyalist who defended monarchy, rejected rebellion and democracy, and opposed the American Revolution.

Talented, hardworking, and erudite, this Anglican minister from New Jersey possessed one of the Church of England’s most outstanding minds. Chandler was an Anglican leader in the 1760s and a key strategist in the effort to strengthen the American church in the years preceding the Revolution. He headed the campaign to create an Anglican bishopric in America—a cause that helped inflame tensions with American radicals unhappy with British policies. And, in the 1770s, his writings provided some of the most trenchant criticisms of the American revolutionary movement, raising fundamental questions about obedience, subordination, and rebellion that undercut Whig assertions about republicanism and popular control. Working from Chandler’s library catalog and other primary sources, Rohrer digs into Chandler’s political and religious beliefs, exploring their origins and the events in British history that shaped them.

An intriguing and thoughtful reappraisal of a consequential figure in early American history, this biography will captivate students, scholars, and lay readers interested in politics and religion in Revolutionary-era America.

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The Folly of Revolution: Thomas Bradbury Chandler and the Loyalist Mind in a Democratic Age

The Folly of Revolution: Thomas Bradbury Chandler and the Loyalist Mind in a Democratic Age

by S. Scott Rohrer
The Folly of Revolution: Thomas Bradbury Chandler and the Loyalist Mind in a Democratic Age

The Folly of Revolution: Thomas Bradbury Chandler and the Loyalist Mind in a Democratic Age

by S. Scott Rohrer

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Overview

In this penetrating biography of Thomas Bradbury Chandler, S. Scott Rohrer takes readers deep into the intellectual world of a leading loyalist who defended monarchy, rejected rebellion and democracy, and opposed the American Revolution.

Talented, hardworking, and erudite, this Anglican minister from New Jersey possessed one of the Church of England’s most outstanding minds. Chandler was an Anglican leader in the 1760s and a key strategist in the effort to strengthen the American church in the years preceding the Revolution. He headed the campaign to create an Anglican bishopric in America—a cause that helped inflame tensions with American radicals unhappy with British policies. And, in the 1770s, his writings provided some of the most trenchant criticisms of the American revolutionary movement, raising fundamental questions about obedience, subordination, and rebellion that undercut Whig assertions about republicanism and popular control. Working from Chandler’s library catalog and other primary sources, Rohrer digs into Chandler’s political and religious beliefs, exploring their origins and the events in British history that shaped them.

An intriguing and thoughtful reappraisal of a consequential figure in early American history, this biography will captivate students, scholars, and lay readers interested in politics and religion in Revolutionary-era America.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780271094052
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Publication date: 03/08/2022
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
File size: 9 MB

About the Author

S. Scott Rohrer is a social historian and the author of several books, including Jacob Green’s Revolution: Radical Religion and Reform in a Revolutionary Age, also published by Penn State University Press. His website can be found at scottrohrer.net.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Authority and Obedience in Revolutionary America

1. Disciple: Thomas Bradbury Chandler, Samuel Johnson, and the Making of a High Church Royalist

2. Englishman: Church and State in a Chandlerian World

3. Time Traveler: The Glorious Revolution and the High Church Cause

4. Episcopalian: Chandler and the Bishop’s Cause

5. Warrior: The Fight for an American Episcopate

6. Loyalist: The Defense of British Authority

7. Londoner: A Loyalist in Exile

Epilogue: A Royalist in a Revolutionary World

Appendix: The Library of Thomas Bradbury Chandler

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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