"A major contribution to the history of the American Revolution, An Empire Divided traces a split in the politics of the mainland and island colonies after the Stamp Act Crisis of 1765-66, when the colonists on the islands chose not to emulate the resistance of the patriots on the mainland. Once war came, it was increasingly unpopular in the British Caribbean; nevertheless, the white colonists cooperated with the British in defense of their islands. O'Shaughnessy decisively refutes the widespread belief that there was broad backing among the Caribbean colonists for the American Revolution and deftly reconstructs the history of how the island colonies followed an increasingly divergent course from the former colonies to the north."--BOOK JACKET.

The Greater Antilles --The Lesser Antilles -- Foundations of Loyalty -- British Sojourners -- Black Majorities -- The Sugar Islands -- Divergent Paths -- Sons of Liberty? -- Winning the Initiative -- The Imperial Civil War -- The Crisis of American Independence -- The Groans of the Plantations -- Rule Britannia -- The Division of British America -- The Other Road to Yorktown -- Conclusion: Revolutionary Legacy.