British arguments in favour of American independence

: the patriotic anti-imperialism of Josiah Tucker, Thomas Tod, and James Anderson

Abstract

This thesis examines British arguments in favour of American independence, not as a lesser evil, but as directly beneficial to Britain, an interesting but largely overlooked aspect of eighteenth-century thought. When not overlooked, the focus has usually been on Josiah Tucker, an Anglican cleric renowned as a political economist in his day who is now best known for zealously and prolifically advocating separation from the colonies, but he has usually been described as having been virtually alone in making such arguments. This thesis argues otherwise; although Tucker was the most prolific expounder of these ideas, he was far from alone. Several scholars have pointed out that both David Hume and Adam Smith agreed with Tucker’s diagnosis and concurred that the best remedy was for Britain to relinquish or lose its colonial possessions. This thesis, however, focuses primarily on two lesser-known thinkers. It has very occasionally been acknowledged that James Anderson, the Scottish agriculturalist and political economist, published similar arguments. Even less well known is that Thomas Tod, a largely forgotten Edinburgh merchant and philanthropist of some contemporary significance, also published similar arguments. This thesis provides the first serious, in-depth analyses of these thinkers’ arguments in favour of American independence. It demonstrates that their arguments were based on the same underlying beliefs as Tucker’s, and that these thinkers all saw the loss of America as an opportunity for Britain to change its ways, to flourish by embracing more or less free trade and eschewing the pursuit of empire. Moreover, it argues that these ideas were probably considerably more prevalent in the later eighteenth century than has previously been recognised. It thereby supplements scholarship on Britain and the American Revolution and on eighteenth-century political thought.

Date of Award	2 Jul 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of St Andrews
Supervisor	Richard Whatmore (Supervisor)