| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 90.3

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 90.3 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Irish Opinion and the American Revolution, 1760–1783. By Vincent Morley. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002. x, 366 pp. $65.00, ISBN 0-521-81386-7.)

For once, here is a book that provides more than its title implies. The American Revolution had many dimensions, one of which was its place in the unfolding histories of western Europe during the second half of the eighteenth century. Ireland had been a subordinate and frequently exploited member of the English Empire since the Middle Ages, so it was likely to be deeply affected by the crisis that developed in the transatlantic settler colonies and ultimately led to war. If America could achieve its independence and establish a republic, why should not Ireland at least gain some substantial concessions within a continuing imperial relationship? In the event, Ireland received only temporary relief before being incorporated into a disastrous union with Britain in 1800. Nevertheless, as this book amply demonstrates, the American Revolution at its height had a powerful effect on Irish politics that transcended the opinions of the chattering classes. The nature of that effect tells us much about the character of late-eighteenth-century Ireland, but the Irish experience can also be used to illuminate our understanding of the constitutional argument between Britain and the American colonies during the 1760s and 1770s.

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