<i>Seized with the Temper of the Times: Identity and Rebellion in Pre-Revolutionary America</i> by Abby Chandler

This worthy study with an attractive title explores the complexities of identity as related to Rhode Island and North Carolina in response to the Stamp Act and the Regulator Rebellion. Abby Chandler's comparative framework is useful to synthesize the varied colonial responses to expanding imperial regulation in the years leading up to the American Revolution, and to understand the impact of localism.Chandler includes a robust historiography that aptly incorporates and acknowledges the contributions of many scholars. Each chapter is peppered with arguments and quotes extracted from leading scholars of Rhode Island, North Carolina, and constitutional history. Chandler highlights the two colonies’ formation and similarities, including toleration, diversity, urban-rural dynamics, regional distinctiveness, and fiery spirit. To craft her study, Chandler relies on a variety of sources, such as the seldom used “Stamp Act Notebook” of Ezra Stiles and the published papers of North Carolina royal governor William Tryon.After identifying parallels between Rhode Island and North Carolina, Chandler introduces the Newport Junto and the existing power structures in Rhode Island. She investigates the pamphlet war between Stephen Hopkins and Martin Howard, who represent the tension between agrarian and mercantile interests. Both were concerned with the rights of Englishmen and how privileges translated across the Atlantic. Chandler explores how the Stamp Act crisis played out in both colonies, examining North Carolina's response and the ensuing Regulator Rebellion. Chandler tackles the local roots of the Regulator Rebellion, the phases of the conflict, and the consequences. She tracks the political maneuvering and the struggle to redress grievances and implement reform. Chandler distinguishes between the Regulators’ use of legal and extra-legal methods, the significance of petitions, the blurring of distinctions between factions, sectional identity, and how imperial taxation policies contributed to the conflict.The most interesting and innovative part of her book is the emphasis on Martin Howard. Chandler skillfully traces Howard's experiences, principles, and challenges during the Stamp Act crisis. She follows his career from Rhode Island to London to North Carolina. Significantly, Howard's experience bridges both colonies and crises, plus his imperial perspective is crucial. A staunch supporter of Parliament and a leader of the Newport Junto, Howard strongly upheld British imperial policies. In Rhode Island, his stance was ideologically, politically, and economically opposed by the combined forces of the provincial government. Ousted from Newport, Howard played a key role as chief justice of North Carolina during the Regulator Rebellion.Chandler's analysis of North Carolina's political quagmire is equally insightful. Tryon aligned himself with planters connected to Virginia and Maryland. Tryon's authority was bolstered by the wealthy, a circumstance that shaped his policies. Tryon viewed the Regulators as a homogeneous group that was prone to violence. Chandler proves otherwise, noting that many Regulators attempted reform under well-established British legal traditions such as a petition campaign. The Regulators assured Howard of their respect for British law and pledged their loyalty to George III, but Tryon's characterization of the Regulators as “troublesome” persisted.Tryon manipulated the colonial assembly to defeat the reform movement, and after the Battle of Alamance in May 1771, twelve Regulators were tried for treason. The use of Johnston's Riot Act to validate the trials and subsequent executions of Regulators was punitive and incompatible with English law, Chandler argues. Her analysis connects the actions of the Regulators in North Carolina and mobs protesting the Stamp Act in Boston, Newport, and Wilmington. All protesters believed that, as Englishmen, they had the right to “comment on the laws governing them, and, in cases of extremity, violently oppose those laws” (123).Chandler concludes that Rhode Island and North Carolina's leadership in the Revolutionary movement was buttressed by internal pressures. Unresolved local issues simmered in the years leading up to the American Revolution. British revenue policies provided the spark to ignite underlying tensions. Here, Chandler ambitiously connects the Stamp Act crisis, the Regulator Rebellion, the Gaspee affair, and the Mecklenburg Resolves. Overall, Seized with the Temper of the Times focuses on community pressures that fester and resurface in times of crisis. Chandler shows how political polarization was embedded in the identities of each colony, and how these attitudes persisted with each generation. An economic theme permeates her work, with sustained analyses of wealth, taxes, and government corruption. These were, and continue to be, politically divisive issues informed by local circumstances.