“My Dear Countrymen Rouse Yourselves”

Abstract

By 1774, events were pushing the lawyers to take sides whose lines of division could not be crossed. Nor could even the best connected of lawyers straddle these lines. One had to choose. Still, the lines that defined revolutionary and loyalist lawyering were only drawn in shifting sands. Had Parliament conceded some measure of colonial autonomy and had the revolutionary leadership been more patient with English policies, the crisis could have been averted or at least held at bay. But both sides seemed unwilling to acknowledge what continued intransigence would bring.