North of America: Loyalists, Indigenous Nations, and the Borders of the Long American Revolution by Jeffers Lennox (review)

Jeffers Lennox has given us a fresh, interesting, and in some ways a novel perspective on the shaping of the American revolutionary struggle and the birth of the new republic. North of America makes a multi-faceted argument that comprehending the revolution must take into account the actions and motives of territories and groups who rejected the patriot cause. Specifically, this meant loyalist populations and a range of Indigenous nations to the north of the thirteen rebellious colonies. In concert or acting independently, these groups rallied to hold the Canadian provinces for the Crown and traditional homelands for the tribes. In so doing, they forced the rebels to consider the nature of their revolution and of the independent nation it produced. "To understand the United States and its citizens," Lennox insists, "we must explore how this country and its people were born of a relationship with people and places that refused the revolutionary path" (17).

Lennox does this in seven topical chapters and an epilogue (this is not a chronological volume), each chapter dealing with a particular group, region, or issue. In each case he finds patriots, and later American citizens, constantly looking northward at those who rejected the revolution and its aftermath. The author deftly explores how American thinking and self-perceptions as revolutionaries and citizens changed as they confronted and adjusted to Indigenous, loyalist, and British initiatives in what eventually became Canada—the second nation born of the revolution. In "Of Montreal" (Chapter 1), for example, he offers a fresh look at what the revolutionaries sought to accomplish in their 1775 invasion of Canada. Driving the British from Quebec, patriots hoped, would not only expand the revolution geographically and spread the ideals of the revolt, but also facilitate peaceful relationships with the northern tribes. Military and diplomatic failures in Canada, however, while disappointing for the rebels, offered them a healthy dose of reality. The setbacks taught the revolutionaries not to bite off more than they could chew and to focus on a more realistic goal—achieving independence from the empire for the thirteen colonies. It was a valuable lesson.

North of America addresses other learning experiences for the revolution. Lennox skillfully explains how the mostly Protestant patriots tried to square their often-rabid anti-Catholic sentiments with a desire to entice the French-speaking population in Canada and the West into the revolutionary fold—and why the effort ultimately failed. He examines the matter of patriot diplomacy—critical to international acceptance of America as an independent power—and finds that diplomatic relations with the Indigenous nations were every bit as important. That diplomacy with the tribes ultimately failed in many instances—war was often the result—did not gainsay the fact that many Indians were strong enough to defend their homelands and merit serious negotiations. This in turn forced the expansionist Americans to more carefully gauge their movements west and to be realistic about their borders in the Northeast. These and other interactions with the northern Indigenous nations and loyal provinces gradually compelled Americans to assess their identity as a nation. At the same time a nascent Canadian nationalism took hold, and by 1812 it was clear that Canadians and Americans—with considerable shared history and even kinships—had become different peoples.

Lennox's writing is worth noting. While he has tackled a subject of considerable breath and complexity, at only 278 pages of text North of America is not an overly large book. Lennox writes concisely and comes to the point; there is no excess verbiage. In fact, this is an easy and often enjoyable read with any number of new observations—all based on a deep research effort and a full command of the pertinent secondary literature. Lennox has made a genuinely significant contribution. This has been a very long way of saying that "I...