Loyalist or Patriot?

Nobody wants to be controlled, especially by another person. You want to be strong. You want to show that you are independent. You want to show you are mature. Parents and adults think they can control you but they really can’t. In the book, My Brother Sam is Dead by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier it is about a family being divided by the war brewing between the patriots and British. One of the main themes in this story is loyalty vs. rebellion. Sam Meeker, the oldest son wants to fight with the patriots. His father however, is a true loyalist. Tim and his mother are caught in the middle. They are the type of people that want do what is right. But with both family members fighting for different sides, they don’t know what to do.

Loyalist or Patriot? That was a frequently asked question in the 1600-1800's. Some people felt like they needed to be loyal to the king and how he ran everything. Others however, thought since he was so far away from everyone he didn’t deserve the right to be ruling everyone. The reasons patriots wanted to fight were because they were taxed, pushed around, and were forced to do things the way the British wanted them too. Sam Meeker was one of those people who was completely fed up with the King of England. He was a headstrong , strong, and had a true heart. Most kids his age, were in college but he chose to fight on the frontlines with others who thought that America should be free. He shows rebellion in this because he does not want to be told what to do anymore, by anyone including his own family. I respect his choice and would have probably done the exact same thing. I feel like I am headstrong and will always fight for what I believe in, like Sam Meeker.

Lobsterback, Tory, Redcoat, etc. those are just some names patriots called the British Army—Well, just some acceptable terms in the early society. The patriots were very out manned, out gunned, and out powered. There was one thing they had to their advantage in the war though. They used the land they knew and loved to take over the British. Most people felt like the British would win, and historically no one really knows how they lost to the weaker Americans. A person who was pulling for the British was Sam Meeker’s Father, “Life” as they called him. He was always a loyalist and no one was going to change his mind about that. Life was a loyalist and Sam was a patriot. This war divided many families, causing many wars between many people, not just with a country and people fighting to be a free country. This war took many lives, and sometimes—family members were shooting at family members without evening knowing it, that was the effect of the Revolutionary War.

Family can be a tough, sometimes you don’t know what you could do with them and sometimes you wish you lived your life without them. That is just how family works, they are their whether you want them to be or not. Sam Meeker is one of those people who wishes sometimes his family doesn’t exist. Throughout the book, Sam turns his family away and wishes to be free. Many people now a days are like that as well but it wasn’t as common back in the 1600’s. Sam rebelled and turned his family away, he fought for freedom and that is what spirit every other patriot in the colonies had. Loyalists however showed loyalty to the king of England and made influences on the people around them to become loyalists. Whether you were a loyalist or a patriot didn’t really matter-- what mattered was showing honor to what your family believed in. Or did you bring shame upon your family’s name?

British—Continental?  Patriot—Loyalist? Did it really matter what side you chose? Whichever side you did pick had many advantages. It also had disadvantages. Many people chose to rebel against the British because they wanted to be free, after all that was the reason they came to America in the first place—A new life. Others however were loyal, they felt that they needed to stay true to the king. Whether you rebelled or were loyal during the Revolutionary War, everyone played a big part in the war. Being strong for either side was a key component to have. Being tough was a skill in battle. Being a leader was another, helping fellow country man. Those are the things that made America the way they are. A free country, with free people, and with free rights.