As the battles between American and British forces were being waged, a number of plays were written reflecting the passions on both sides. Most of these dramas are aesthetically unsatisfactory, but they were not intended to be taken as works of art. Instead, like the plays written immediately before the Revolution, they were works of propaganda, calculated to confirm the opinion of the reader (if it agreed with the opinion of the playwright) and perhaps to sway the undecided. The characters are painted broadly, and their actions tend to be unequivocally good or irredeemably evil. Subtleties of characterization and dramatic structure are almost invariably sacrificed so that the playwright may create a clearer portrait of valor on the one side and cowardice or malice on the other.

Nor were most of the plays intended for staging. As Norman Philbrick has noted: