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Loyalists (often capitalized L) were British North American colonists who remained loyal subjects of the British crown during the American Revolution. They were also called Tories, King's Men, or Royalists. Those Loyalists who left and resettled in Canada are often called United Empire Loyalists. Their colonial opponents, who supported the Revolution, were called Patriots, Whigs, Congress Men, or, in view of their loyalty to the new United States of America, just Americans. British North America was an informal term first used in 1783, but uncommon before the Report on the Affairs of British North America (1839), called the Durham Report. ...
The American Revolution was a revolution that ended two centuries of rule in Thirteen Colonies of North America by the British Empire and created the modern United States of America. ...
The term Tory derives from the Tory Party, the ancestor of the modern UK Conservative Party. ...
United Empire Loyalists is the name given to the portion of British Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War, and to recover lost fortunes (land and private property...
The American Revolution was a revolution that ended two centuries of rule in Thirteen Colonies of North America by the British Empire and created the modern United States of America. ...
Patriots (also known as Partisans, or Rebels) were British North American colonists who rebelled against the Crown during the American Revolution and established the independent states that became the United States of America. ...
While the Whigs (along with the Tories) are often described as one of the two political parties in late 17th to mid 19th century Great Britain, it is more accurate to describe them as loose political groupings or tendencies. ...
From an American perspective in 1775, the Loyalists were traitors who turned against their fellow citizens and collaborated with the occupation of a foreign army. From the Loyalist perspective in 1775, the Loyalists were the honourable ones who stood by the Crown and the British Empire, and had to flee persecution from disloyal American radicals. As Anglican clergyman Samuel Seabury wrote, "If I must be enslaved let it be by a King at least, and not by a parcel of upstart lawless Committeemen. If I must be devoured, let me be devoured by the jaws of a lion, and not gnawed to death by rats and vermin." [1] Like most Loyalists, Seabury remained in America; he became the first Episcopal bishop. Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729 – February 25, 1796), the first American Episcopal bishop, was born in Ledyard, Groton, Connecticut. ...
Background and motivation of Loyalists
By July 4, 1776, the patriots controlled over 98% of the territory and population of the 13 states, and demanded that no resident show loyalty to a foreign power. Neutrality was permitted. The British however returned and in September, 1776, they defeated the American army and captured New York City and Long Island, which they occupied until 1783. From time to time they controlled various cities such as Boston (1775-6), Philadelphia (1777), Savannah (1778-83) and Charleston (1780-82), and various slices of countryside. However 90% of the population lived outside the cities. The result was that the American state governments controlled 80-95% of the population. The British pulled out all their governors (except Georgia) and never allowed the Loyalists to set up any government. Britain did reestablish its colonial governor in coastal Georgia [2] 1779-82, with the Americans in control upstate. Elsewhere, the British were normally only in control through Army and Royal Navy activity.
Loyalism in Canada In Canada, American agents were active, especially John Brown, agent of the Boston Committee of Correspondence, along with Canadian-American merchant Thomas Walker and others, during the winter of 1774-5. They won many habitants to sympathize with Congress. However others--probably a majority--remained neutral and refused to join the militia which the British had called out to protect against the American invasion in late 1775. Only a minority of the habitants expressed loyalty to King George; about 1500 militia fought for the King in defense of Montreal. In the region south of Montreal occupied by the Americans, the habitants supported the American and raised two regiments to join them. [Mason Wade, The French Canadians (1955) 1:67-9.] In Nova Scotia, with a large Yankee settlement but a powerful British naval base, neutrality prevailed.
Loyalists in the 13 states Historian Robert Middlekauff summarizes scholarly research on who was a Loyalist as follows: In no colony did loyalists outnumber revolutionaries. The largest numbers were found in the middle colonies: many tenant farmers of New York supported the king, for example, as did many of the Dutch in the colony and in New Jersey. The Germans in Pennsylvania tried to stay out of the Revolution, just as many Quakers did, and when they failed, clung to the familiar connection rather than embrace the new. Highland Scots in the Carolinas, a fair number of Anglican clergy and their parishioners in Connecticut and New York, a few Presbyterians in the southern colonies, and a large number of the Iroquois Indians stayed loyal to the king.[3] New York City and Long Island (controlled by the British from 1776 to 1783) had the largest concentration of Loyalists, many of whom were refugees from other states.
Loyalists were loosely associated with Anglicanism in that many prominent Anglicans supported the King. Loyalists tended to be older, more likely merchants, wealthier and better-educated than their Patriot opponents; but there were also many Loyalists of humble means. Some recent emigrants, especially Scots, had a high Loyalist proportion. Loyalists in the South, however, were suppressed by the local Patriots who controlled local and state government. Many people -- such as some of the ex-Regulators in North Carolina -- refused to join the rebellion as they had earlier protested against corruption by the local authorities who later became rebel leaders. Such pre-Revolutionary War oppression by the local Whigs contributed to the reason that much of North Carolina (mainly backcountry areas) remained loyal to their king and crown. The term Anglican (from Anglia, the Latin name for England) describes the people, institutions, and churches that adhere the religious traditions developed by the established Church of England. ...
Historians estimate that about 15-20% of the white population of the thirteen states was Loyalist, but the number was constantly declining as thousands of Loyalists fled the country every year, and few returned. In Georgia and the Carolina people changed back and forth. Including the black and native American populations, which were more pro-British,[4] the proportion of loyalists may have been a quarter or more of the population. Due to the highly political nature of the war, a large proportion of the white population remained neutral (estimated between a third and a half).
"Approximately half the colonists of European ancestry tried to avoid involvement in the struggle – some of them deliberate pacifists, others recent emigrants, and many more simple apolitical folk. The patriots received active support from perhaps 40 to 45 per cent of the white populace, and at most no more than a bare majority." [5]
Black Loyalists and slavery - See also Black Loyalist
Free Blacks supported the Revolution, and often fought in militia units. Very few became Loyalists. However the few slaves in Virginia who were in a position to make a decision were overwhelmingly Loyalist. Slavery was illegal in Great Britain itself. Therefore, when Loyalist slaveowners left the country, they took their slaves to Jamaica and other islands where conditions were bleak for the slaves. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Lord Dunmore's Loyalist black 'Ethiopian Regiment' in Virginia bore the motto "Liberty to Slaves" in intentional parody of the white Virginian motto "Liberty or Death". It had about 300 ex-slaves. [11] After 1775, George Washington forbade the recruitment of Black soldiers in his army, [12] although later slaves who fought in the Continental Army for a set period were often legally emancipated. There were no slave revolts reported during the Revolution, excepting the thousand or so blacks who fought for the Loyalists. As the war ended an estimated 75-100,000 blacks left the United States. About 400 to 1000 went to London and joined the community of about 10,000 free blacks there. About 3500 to 4000 went to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (later part of Canada), where the British provied many with land. Over 1,500 settled in Birchtown, Nova Scotia, instantly making it the largest free black community in North America. However about 1500 left Nova Scotia for the new British colony of Sierra Leone in Africa after 1787, where they became part of the ruling elite. The vast majority of blacks --over 75,000-- were taken as slaves to the West Indies, where living conditions were much worse and life expectancy far shorter.[1] Black Loyalists is the name given to formerly enslaved Africans or Free Blacks of the North American continent who joined the British Army in their war against the American Revolutionaries. ...
Black Loyalists is the name given to formerly enslaved Africans or Free Blacks of the North American continent who joined the British Army in their war against the American Revolutionaries. ...
An often cited statement by John Adams, in which he seemed to suggest that about one-third of the people were Loyalists, is said to have been rhetorical and not intended to be statistical. John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was the first (1789–1797) Vice President of the United States, and the second President of the United States, whose term lasted from 1797 to 1801. ...
During the war The largest concentration of Loyalists was in New York City and Long Island (controlled by the British Army from September, 1776 until the evacuation in late 1783). Consequently many Loyalist families fled to New York City. Other Loyalists supported the reestablished British colonial government in Georgia; nowhere else did the British attempt to restore colonial government in which Loyalists might participate, preferring instead a military rule. Elsewhere Loyalists were subject to confiscation of property. Loyalists were often subjected to tar and feathering. They could be arrested for being loyal to the British, some were abused, threatened, and attacked by mobs of patriots. However relatively few Loyalist civilians are thought to have been killed by mobs and none were officially executed. In September 1775, Willilam Drayton and loyalist leader Colonel Thomas Fletchall signed a treaty of neutrality in the interior community of Ninety Six, South Carolina. In October 1775, Congress passed a resolution calling for the arrest of all loyalists who are dangerous to "the liberties of America." The Bostonians Paying the Excise-Man, 1774 British propaganda print referring to the tarring and feathering of Boston Commissioner of Customs John Malcolm four weeks after the Boston Tea Party. ...
Other notable men have similar names, see: William Drayton (disambiguation). ...
Ninety Six is a town located in Greenwood County, South Carolina. ...
Military service The Loyalists rarely attempted any political organization. They were often passive unless regular British army units were in the area. The British planned much of their strategy around raising Loyalist companies and regiments. The British provincial line, consisting of Americans enlisted on a regular army status, enrolled 19,000 American loyalists (50 units and 312 companies). Another 10,000 served in loyalist militia or "associations." The maximum strenth of the provincial line was 9,700 in December 1780. (Smith 264-7; Calhoon 502)
According to Hugh Bicheno, of those Americans who actually took up arms in the American Revolution, as many joined the Loyalists as joined the Rebels. [13].
Emigration A majority of the Loyalists remained in America during and after the war but some began leaving early in the war when transport was available. An estimated 70,000 Loyalists, approximately 62,000 whites and 8,000 blacks, about 3% of the total American population, left the thirteen states: 46,000 to Canada; 7,000 to Britain and 17,000 to the Caribbean. Beginning in the mid-1780s until the end of the century a small percentage returned from the Caribbean and Nova Scotia.
Following the end of the Revolution and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Loyalist soldiers and civilians were evacuated from New York and resettled in other colonies of the British Empire, most notably in the future Canada: the two colonies of Nova Scotia (including modern-day New Brunswick, receiving in total some 32,000 Loyalist refugees) and Canada (including the Eastern Townships and modern-day Ontario, receiving altogether some 10,000 refugees). Painting by Benjamin West depicting John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, and William Temple Franklin. ...
Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area Ranked 27th - Total 141,205 km² (54,520 sq. ...
This article refers to a colony in politics and history. ...
The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...
Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages None (English,French,Gaelic) Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Myra Freeman Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation - House seat - Senate seats 11 10 Area Total • Land • Water (% of total) Ranked 12th 55,283...
Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope restored) Official languages English, French Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Lieutenant-Governor Herménégilde Chiasson Premier Bernard Lord (PC) Parliamentary representation - House seat - Senate seats 10 10 Area Total • Land • Water (% of total) Ranked 11th 72 908 km² 71 450 km² 1 458 km...
The Eastern Townships (in French les Cantons de lest) is a region in south central Quebec, lying between the Saint Lawrence River and the US border. ...
Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English Flower White trillium Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation - House seat - Senate seats 106 24 Area Total - Land - Water (% of total) Ranked 4th 1...
Realizing the importance of some type of consideration, on November 9, 1789, Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec, declared that it was his Wish to "put the mark of Honour upon the Families who had adhered to the Unity of the Empire..." As a result of Dorchester's statement, the printed militia rolls carried the notation: Sir Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (1724-1808) was a British soldier who served as Governor of the Province of Quebec. ...
Those Loyalists who have adhered to the Unity of the Empire, and joined the Royal Standard before the Treaty of Separation in the year 1783, and all their Children and their Descendants by either sex, are to be distinguished by the following Capitals, affixed to their names: U.E. Alluding to their great principle The Unity of the Empire. The initials "U.E." are rarely seen today, but the influence of the Loyalists on the evolution of Canada remains. Their ties with Britain and their antipathy to the United States provided the strength needed to keep Canada independent and distinct in North America. The Loyalists' basic distrust of republicanism and "mob rule" influenced Canada's gradual "paper-strewn" path to independence. In effect, the new British North American provinces of Upper Canada (the forerunner of Ontario) and New Brunswick were founded as places of refuge for the United Empire Loyalists. (For a consideration of Loyalists' role in the formation of English Canadian identity, see Canadian identity.) Map of Upper Canada (orange) Upper Canada was a British territory in what is now the Canadian province of Ontario. ...
Motto: Spem reduxit (Hope restored) Official languages English, French Capital Fredericton Largest city Saint John Lieutenant-Governor Herménégilde Chiasson Premier Bernard Lord (PC) Parliamentary representation - House seat - Senate seats 10 10 Area Total • Land • Water (% of total) Ranked 11th 72 908 km² 71 450 km² 1 458 km...
Canadian identity refers to the set of characteristics and symbols that a majority of Canadians regard as expressing their unique place and role in the world. ...
The richest and most prominent Loyalists went to Britain to rebuild their careers; many received pensions. Many Southern Loyalists, taking along their slaves, went to the West Indies and the Bahamas, particularly to the Abaco Islands. The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ...
The Abaco islands lie in the northern Bahamas and comprise the main islands of Great Abaco and Little Abaco, together with the smaller Wood Cay, Green Turtle Cay, Great Guana Cay, Gorda Cay, Elbow Cay, Man-o-War Cay, Strangers Cay, Umbrella Cay, Walkers Cay and Mores Island. ...
Thousands of Iroquois and other Native Americans were expelled from New York and other states and resettled in Canada. The descendents of one such group of Iroquois, led by Joseph Brant Thayendenegea, settled at Six Nations of the Grand River, the largest First Nations Reserve in Canada. A group of Black Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia but, facing discrimination there, emigrated again for Sierra Leone. Carved mask in Vancouver First Nations is a term for ethnicity used in Canada to replace the word Indian. It refers to the Indigenous peoples of North America located in what is now Canada, and their descendants, who are not Inuit or Métis. ...
The Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power, Five Nations, or Six Nations) is a group of First Nations/Native Americans. ...
Joseph Brant, painted in London by leading court painter George Romney in 1776 Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (sometimes spelled Brandt or Brand) (c. ...
Six Nations of the Grand River is the name applied to two contiguous Indian reserves southeast of Brantford, Ontario, Canada – Six Nations reserve no. ...
Carved mask in Vancouver First Nations is a term for ethnicity used in Canada to replace the word Indian. It refers to the Indigenous peoples of North America located in what is now Canada, and their descendants, who are not Inuit or Métis. ...
In Canada, an Indian reserve is specified by the Indian Act as a tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band. ...
Many of the Loyalists were forced to abandon substantial amounts of property, and restoration of or compensation for this lost property was a major issue during the negotiation of the Jay Treaty in 1795. List of treaties Timeline of United States diplomatic history External links Jays Treaty and related resources at the Library of Congress Jays Treaty of 1794 -- various documents from The Avalon Project Categories: | | | | ...
Prominent Loyalists - Benedict Arnold (Brigadier General, commissioned about close of 1780), originally a rebel/patriot general
- Joseph Brant Thayendenegea (commander of Iroquois forces)
- Montford Browne (Brigadier General, commanding Prince of Wales American Regiment, 1777)
- John Butler (Colonel commanding Butler's Rangers in the Mohawk Valley)
- Walter Butler (Capt. in Butler's Rangers and son of John Butler).
- Robert Cunningham (Brigadier General, in 1780 in command of a garrison in South Carolina)
- Oliver DeLancey (Brigadier General, commanding Delancey's Brigade 1776)
- Abraham DePeyster (Officer of King's American Regiment)
- Arent Schuyler DePeyster (Officer of the 8th Regiment of Foot)
- William Franklin (governor of New Jersey, son of Benjamin Franklin)
- Joseph Galloway Pennsylvania politician
- Simon Girty (served as a liaison between the British and their Native American allies during the American Revolution)
- Reuben Hankinson (Ensign, First New Jersey Volunteers, September 1780) [2]
- John Howe (printer of the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Weekly News-Letter)
- Thomas Hutchinson last royal governor of Massachusetts, and a historian
- Sir John Johnson (commander of the King's Royal Regiment of New York)
- Thomas Jones, historian
- Daniel Leonard
- John Lovell, headmaster of Boston Latin School
- Isaac Low, New York merchant
- Gabriel Ludlow, New York merchant
- George Ludlow, New York judge
- Alexander McKee (liaison between the British and the Shawnees)
- James Moody (Lieutenant, First New Jersey Volunteers, March 1781) [3]
- Robert Rogers (commander of The Queen's York Rangers (1st American Regiment) (RCAC), innovator of ranging tactics)
- Samuel Seabury, clergyman
- Cortlandt Skinner (Brigadier General, commanding New Jersey Voluneteers, Sept. 4, 1776)
- William Stark (Brother of Gen. John Stark)
- John Taylor (Captain, First New Jersey Volunteers, January 1781)
Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold (January 14, 1741 – June 14, 1801) was a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. ...
Joseph Brant, painted in London by leading court painter George Romney in 1776 Thayendanegea or Joseph Brant (sometimes spelled Brandt or Brand) (c. ...
John Butler (1728-1796) was a Tory (Loyalist) who led an irregular unit known as Butlers Rangers on the northern frontier in the American Revolutionary War. ...
for other men named Walter Butler, see Walter Butler Walter Butler ( 1752 – 30 October 1781 ) was a British Loyalist officer during the American Revolution. ...
Butlers Rangers was a Tory or Loyalist irregular unit in the British Army during the American Revolutionary War. ...
William Franklin (1731-1813) was the last Royal Governor of New Jersey. ...
Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Largest city Trenton Newark Area Ranked 47th - Total 8,729 sq. ...
Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1777 Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most prominent of the Founders and early political figures and statesmen of the United States. ...
Joseph Galloway (1731–August 29, 1803) was an American Continental Congress Delegate from Pennsylvania; born at West River, Maryland; moved with his father to Pennsylvania in 1740; received a liberal schooling; studied law; was admitted to the bar and began practice in Philadelphia; member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives...
Simon Girty (1741–February 18, 1818) was a British subject, born in what is now the United States, who served as a liaison between the British and their Native American allies during the American Revolution. ...
John Howe, c. ...
Thomas Hutchinson (September 9, 1711-June 3, 1780) was the American colonial governor of Massachusetts from 1771 to 1774 and a prominent Loyalist in the years before the American Revolutionary War. ...
Sir John Johnson was a prominent Loyalist partisan leader in the American Revolution. ...
The Kings Royal Regiment of New York was the first Loyalist regiment raised June 19, 1776 in Canada during the American Revolution. ...
There is no known authentic portrait of Robert Rogers; this is an artists interpretation. ...
The 1st American Regiment was originally raised during the Seven Years War by Robert Rogers and were better known as Rogers Rangers. ...
There are two versions of the Rangers Standing Orders of Major Robert Rogers. ...
Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729 – February 25, 1796), the first American Episcopal bishop, was born in Ledyard, Groton, Connecticut. ...
William Stark (1724-1776) was the older brother of Gen. ...
General John Stark John Stark (August 28, 1728 - May 8, 1822) was a general who served in the American Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. ...
See also Martin v. ...
United Empire Loyalists is the name given to individuals who are descendants of British North American loyalists who, during the American War of Independence, left the 13 rebellious American colonies for the future Canada: the two British colonies of Quebec (including the Eastern Townships and modern-day Ontario) and Nova...
Notes - ^ [Seabury, Letters of a Westchester Farmer, 1774-1775 (1970) p 61]
- ^ http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2709
- ^ Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789 (1985). Pg 550.
- ^ McDonnell in ‘A companion to the American revolution’, Blackwell Publishers, 2000, Chapter 43
- ^ Robert M. Calhoon, in 'A companion to the American Revolution', Blackwell Publishers, 2000; pg 235.
- ^ McDonnell in ‘A companion to the American revolution’, Blackwell Publishers, 2000, Chapter 43
- ^ Simon Schama, 'Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution', Publisher: BBC Books
- ^ http://www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/africanns/ch2.asp
- ^ http://collections.ic.gc.ca/blackloyalists/
- ^ http://www.americanrevolution.org/blk.html
- ^ Calhoon in ‘A companion to the American revolution’, Blackwell Publishers, 2000, pg 241
- ^ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2narr4.html
- ^ [Bicheno & Holmes, 'Rebels and Redcoats', Harper Collins, 2004]
References - Brown, Wallace. The King's Friends: The Composition and Motives of the American Loyalist Claimants (1966).
- Calhoon, Robert M. "Loyalism and neutrality" in Jack P. Greene and J.R. Pole, eds., The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (1991)
- Calhoon, Robert M. The Loyalists in Revolutionary America, 1766-1781 (1973)
- Kerber, Linda. Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America (1997)
- Knowles, Norman. Inventing the Loyalists: The Ontario Loyalist Tradition and the Creation of Usable Pasts (1997) explores the identities and loyalties of those who removed to Canada.
- Moore, Christopher. The Loyalist: Revolution Exile Settlement. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, (1994).
- Nelson, William H. The American Tory (1961)
- Norton, Mary Beth. Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800 (1996)
- Quarles, Benjamin; Black Mosaic: Essays in Afro-American History and Historiography University of Massachusetts Press. (1988)
- Smith, Paul H. "The American Loyalists: Notes on Their Organization and Numerical Strength," William and Mary Quarterly 25 (1968): 259-77.
- Van Tyne, Claude Halstead. The Loyalists in the American Revolution (1902)
- Mason Wade, The French Canadians: 1760-1945 (1955) 2 vol.
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