Samuel Peters, Transactional Leadership and the Failure of Loyalism in Revolutionary Connecticut

Abstract

This study examines Rev. Samuel Peters, a Loyalist minister and writer from Connecticut, and his transactional leadership efforts during the American Revolution. The study relies on primary and secondary historical sources, including Peters’ writings.  This study also includes works on leadership, histories of the American Revolution, biographies, correspondence, memoirs, sermons, public statements, and diaries. Peters, one of the most prominent opponents of the American Revolution from Connecticut, relied on transactional strategies, showing the futility of such tactics in the face of transformative times.

Keywords: transactional leadership, the American Revolution, Loyalists, Tories, Connecticut, Samuel Peters