Patriots Before Revolution: The Rise of Party Politics in the British Atlantic, 1714-1763

The American revolutionaries-George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John and Abigail Adams-called themselves Patriots. But what exactly did it mean to be a Patriot? Historian Amy Watson locates the origins of Patriotism in British politics of the early eighteenth century, showing that the label "Patriot" was first adopted by a network of British politicians with radical ideas about the principles and purpose of the British Empire. The early Patriots' ideological mission was not American indep...