class notes
A Royal American John Frederick ’47 | Dog Ear Publishing, 2009
Reframing the American Revolution | During the Revolutionary War, some colonists had conflicting loyalties because of their strong ties to Britain. In Mr. Frederick’s book, the story’s protagonist, James Ricketts, is symbolic of these tensions; he is a New Jersey colonist, but also a commissioned officer in the British army. Unable to return home because of the war, he and his fiancée, the daughter of an American patriot, travel to Scotland for their wedding and embark on a married life that is constantly uprooted by the demands of war. Well-researched and filled with historical detail, Mr. Frederick’s novel presents a wide-angled view of the colonial era, following James on his journey from the family sugar plantation in Jamaica, to a soldier training station in St. Augustine, and the frontlines of the Revolutionary War. As the war draws to a close, James must reconcile his allegiance to Britain with his identification as an American and citizen of a newly independent nation. Mr. Frederick’s inspiration for A Royal American came in part from his own family history. The actual James and Sarah Ricketts were his ancestors, and he drew from their lives in creating a narrative centered on a view of the American Revolution he felt has been inadequately discussed. “The usual way of telling about the Revolution does distort history in the service of a national mythology,” Mr. Frederick wrote. “That mythology turns the war into a straight British v. American fight, ignoring it as America’s first civil war. That strong bonds existed between the two countries, before, during, and after the war, has been ignored or suppressed.” While writing A Royal American, Mr. Frederick drew on his extensive knowledge of British military forces, which was acquired through spending much of his professional life in England. After attending Deerfield and Princeton University, he received a master of divinity degree at The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church and became an Anglican priest. Mr. Frederick is also the author of
Sarah tried to be patient . . . Not for three years had she seen her family, nor had she heard from her father for four months. To her it was incredible that two sides were so busy tearing each other apart that they could not make room for family relations when everybody knew that family ties were the most enduring ones . . . No one had independence. Everyone was dependent on others.
two lineage books of the British army, as well as a theological study of liturgy.
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