how did the colonial patriots get their name
Patriot (American Revolution) The critics of British rule called themselves "Whigs" after 1768, identifying with members of the British Whig party (including the Radical Whigs and Patriot Whigs), who favored similar colonial policies. The Oxford English Dictionary's third definition of "Patriot" is "A person actively opposing enemy forces occupying his or her country; a member of a resistance movement, a freedom fighter. Originally used of those who opposed and fought the British in the American War of Independence." The earliest citation is a 1773 letter by Benjamin Franklin.[citation needed] In Britain at the time, "patriot" had a negative connotation, and was used, says Samuel Johnson, as a negative epithet for "a factious disturber of the government."[1]