Transatlantic Validation: American Interest and Interpretation of the Gordon Riots

Abstract

This project examines American interest and interpretation of the 1780 London-based Gordon Riots during the American Revolution. Patriot and Loyalist newspapers and personal correspondence is reviewed and analyzed to demonstrate broad interest in the British domestic disturbance and usage of the riots and the government's response to affirm support for Americans' particular position on the war for independence. This interest and interpretation is confirmation of a continued transatlantic dialogue and spread of information post-signing of the Declaration of Independence, and recovers an instance of continued interconnectedness between the British and American publics that informed Patriots and Loyalists' identities and ideologies during the war.