The American Revolution in the Middle Colonies, 1775–1776

In United for Independence: The American Revolution in the Middle Colonies, 1775–1776 (Westholme Publishing, 2023), historian Michael Cecere (Westholme Publishing, 2025) examines how the inhabitants of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland reacted to the outbreak of the American Revolution in Massachusetts.

Leaders in these middle colonies, influenced by strong Loyalist sentiment within their borders and, in some cases, among themselves, fiercely debated whether to support the war in New England.

Congress’s decision in the summer of 1775 to establish a continental army, and its authorization for an invasion of Canada, both of which involved troops from the middle colonies, set the stage for their full-scale involvement in the Revolutionary War.

Using primary source extracts and proceeding chronologically from the spring of 1775 to the fall of 1776, the key events in each of these colonies is presented, from the political struggles between Whigs and Tories, through the failed Canadian expedition, to the loss of Long Island and New York City.

Designed for readers to understand the sequence of events that transformed a resistance movement into a war for independence, United for Independence provides an important overview of events in the middle colonies at the start of the Revolutionary War that complements other works that focus on specific military clashes and campaigns.