The Rebels (John Jakes novel)

The Rebels

1st edition (1975)
Author	John Jakes
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	The Kent Family Chronicles
Genre	Historical fiction
Publication date	1975
Media type	Print
Pages	432
ISBN
Preceded by	The Bastard
Followed by	The Seekers

The Rebels is a historical novel written by John Jakes, originally published in 1975, the second in a series known as The Kent Family Chronicles or the American Bicentennial Series. The novel mixes fictional characters with historical events and figures, to narrate the story of the nascent United States of America during the time of the American Revolution. While the novel continues the story of Philip Kent, started in The Bastard, a large portion focuses on Judson Fletcher, a newly introduced character, as a different rebel. In 1979, the novel was made into a television film by Operation Prime Time, The Rebels.

The story begins on June 17, 1775, at the Battle of Bunker Hill, in which Philip Kent participates. One major event, the marriage of Philip and Anne Ware, took place in the interim. In September of that year Anne gave birth to her first child, whom they named Abraham after her father. Philip then participated in Henry Knox’ mission to transport cannons from Fort Ticonderoga.

Meanwhile, Judson Fletcher, a drunkard and a womanizer still pursued Peggy Ashford McLean, the wife of his friend Seth McLean, whom he had courted before her marriage. Judson lived with his father on Sermon Hill, a large tobacco plantation on the Rappahannock River in northern Virginia. During a great rebellion of slaves Peggy was raped, Seth killed; Angus Fletcher, opposed to Judson's defense of black slaves (and his accusation of white violence that caused it) and his way of life, and put his son out of house.

Judson’s brother, Donald, was a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress, but he suffered from gout and was unable to fulfill his duty, so designated Judson to act in his stead. While attending Congress in Philadelphia, Judson began an affair with Alicia Parkhurst, who now called herself Alice, a former lover of Philip Kent’s. When Tobias Trumbull, Alicia’s uncle, found her, he tried to take her home, which Judson prevented, after which Trumbull challenged Judson to a duel and scheduled it for July 3, 1776. The day before the duel, during a debate on the Lee Resolution, Judson was dismissed from the Virginia delegation for drunkenness and therefore missed his chance to vote on the resolution. The next day, he killed Trumbull in the duel and shortly afterwards, Alicia committed suicide by drowning.