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» This article concerns Loyalists in the American Revolution. For information on the role of those Loyalists in Canadian history after their emigration, see United Empire Loyalists.
For other uses, see Loyalist (disambiguation).

Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the British crown during the American Revolution. They were often referred to as Tories, King's Men, or Royalists by the rebels. Later on those Loyalists who were forced out of the country and resettled in Canada were given the title United Empire Loyalists. Their colonial opponents, who supported the Revolution, were called rebels, Whigs, Patriots, Congress Men, or, in their own view, having rejected 'loyalty to the mother country' for the new United States of America, just 'Americans'. Historians have estimated that about 30% of the population were Loyalists (that is, about 900,000), but there are no exact numbers.

Loyalists in wartime

By July 4 1776 the rebels had gained control of virtually all territory in the 13 States by violently suppressing the Loyalists, demanding that they all give up their loyalty to the King. Those who refused to do so ran the risk of being tarred and feathered, (which often killed the loyalists) as a deterrent to others. Neutrality wasn't permitted. Those that were still determined to remain loyal contributed to the war by giving aid and volunteering to fight with the British army.
The British had been forced out of New York in March 1776 but they returned in August to convincingly defeat the rebel army at Long Island and in doing so, captured New York City and its vicinity, where they remained until 1783. From time to time they also liberated other cities such as Philadelphia (1777), Savannah (1778–83) and Charleston (1780–82), together with various slices of countryside. However, 90% of the population lived outside the cities. The result was that the wishes of the rebel government dominated 80–90% of the population. The British pulled out their governors from where the rebels were controlling by martial law. But civilian government was re-established in coastal Georgia 1779–82, although the rebels still controlled some of the upstate. Elsewhere, the British were only able to maintain normality where they'd sufficient army presence and Royal Navy activity.
   In Canada, American agents were active, especially John, agent of the Boston Committee of Correspondence, along with Canadian-American merchant Thomas Walker and others, during the winter of 1774–5. They won over some inhabitants to sympathize with Congress. However others — probably the large majority — remained neutral, also not joining the militia which the British had called out to protect against the American invasion in late 1775. Although only a minority openly expressed loyalty to King George: about 1500 militia fought for the King in defence of Montreal. In the region south of Montreal occupied by the Americans, some inhabitants supported the Americans and raised two regiments to join them. In Nova Scotia, the large Yankee settlement there tried to win more support and were said to have been tar and feathering Loyalists, but with the powerful British naval base there, this was quickly stamped out.
   Tar and feathering is where patriots would strip the loyalist of their clothing and make them watch the tar boil over the fire. They would then pour the tar over the man and make him roll in feathers. The tar was very hard to clean off and the blistered skin underneath usually came off with the peeled tar.

Loyalists in the Thirteen Colonies


   Historian Robert Middlekauff summarizes scholarly research on who was a Loyalist as follows:
The largest number of loyalist 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 that 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.
New York City and Long Island (the British military and political base of operations in North America from 1776 to 1783) had a very large concentration of Loyalists, many of whom were refugees from other states.
   Loyalists tended to be older, more likely merchants and wealthier, but there were also many Loyalists of humble means. Many active Church of England members became Loyalists. Some recent emigrants, especially Scots, had a high Loyalist proportion. Loyalists in the South, however, were suppressed by the local rebels 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'd 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 backcountry North Carolina tended to be loyalist. Most of the Pennsylvania Dutch (Germans in Pennsylvania) were loyalists. They feared that their royal land grants would be in danger with a new republican form of government.
   In rebel controlled areas — that's most of the country — Loyalists were subject to confiscation of property. Outspoken supporters of the King were threatened with public humiliation (such as tarring and feathering) or physical attack. It isn't known how many Loyalist civilians were actually murdered by the rebels, but it's reasonable to assume that sufficient were, to intimidate the majority from taking up arms against them; in Philadelphia a number of officials were executed for supporting the British. In September 1775 William 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 'so called' liberties of America."
   Historians estimate that about 33-40% of the population in the thirteen states were Loyalist (or roughly 750,000 to 900,000 people among 2.25 million residents), but the number started to decline as thousands of Loyalists fled the country every year of the war, while others were forced under the threat of death to change their affiliation. In Georgia and the Carolinas, people changed back and forth, due to the highly volatile nature of the war as about 33% of the white population just didn't want to be on the losing side.
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 approx 27% of the white populace, some suggesting as much as 33% but they were only ever a minority.

Black Loyalists and slavery

» See also Black Loyalist

As a result of the looming crisis in 1775 the Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation that promised freedom to servants and slaves who were able to bear arms and join his Loyalist Ethiopian regiment. About 800 did so and were able to convincingly rout the Virginia militia at Kemp's Landing. They then fought a battle at Great Bridge on the Elizabeth River, wearing the motto "Liberty to Slaves." but this time they were defeated. The remains of their regiment were then involved in the evacuation of Norfolk, after which they served in the Chesapeake area. Unfortunately the camp that they'd set up there suffered an outbreak of smallpox and other diseases. This took a heavy toll, putting many of them out of action for some time. The survivors joined other British units and continued to serve throughout the war. Blacks were often the first to come forward to volunteer and a total of 12,000 Blacks served with the British from 1775 to 1783. This factor had the effect of forcing the rebels to also offer freedom for those who served in the Continental army, but after the war, most actually remained as slaves.
   As the war ended and more Loyalists left the country, an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 Blacks decided to go with them, not all that wanted to go were able to do so, as they were being captured by Patriot owners. A large number of them arrived in the Bahamas and re-created cotton plantations, although these eventually failed, they have, as with other former British Islands in the area, inherited virtually the whole country. About 400 to 1000 free Blacks went to London and joined the community of about 10,000 free blacks there. About 3500 to 4000 went to the British colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where the British provided them with land. Over 1,500 settled in Birchtown, Nova Scotia, instantly making it the largest free Black community in North America. However, mainly because they were willing to work for less money than their white counterparts, some old prejudices crept back in. Britain still wishing to stand by their commitment, offered to transport those that were dissatisfied elsewhere, so about 1,500 left Nova Scotia for the British colony of Sierra Leone in Africa where they named the capital, Freetown. After 1787 they became the country's ruling elite and because of this, Krio having African American ancestry they initially used 'dollars and cents' as their currency.

Military service

The Loyalists rarely attempted any political organization. They were often passive unless regular British army units were in the area. The British, however, assumed a highly activist Loyalist community was ready to mobilize and planned much of their strategy around raising Loyalist 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 strength of the Loyalist provincial line was 9,700 in December 1780. In all about 50,000 at one time or another were soldiers or militia in British forces, including 15,000 from the main Loyalist stronghold of New York. The majority of Loyalists fought in the southern colonies and were not from the north.

Emigration

The vast majority of the Loyalists (700,000 to 800,000) remained in America during and after the war. Starting in the mid-1780s a small percentage of those who had left returned to the U.S.
   During and following the end of the Revolution in 1783, Loyalists (especially soldiers and former officials) could choose evacuation. Loyalists whose roots were not yet deeply embedded in the New World were more likely to leave; older men who had familial bonds and had acquired friends, property, and a degree of social respectability were more likely to remain in America.
   About 10–20% of the Loyalists left, an estimated 100,000 Loyalists, or about 5% of the total American population. About 70,000 went to British North America (present day Canada); 7,000 to Great Britain and 17,000 to British colonies in the Caribbean (most notably The Bahamas). In fact, the Loyalists were the first of Canada's political refugees, and the first true British settlers, as beforehand, Canada had been mostly French, though annexed by Britain. About 32,000 went to Nova Scotia, where they were not well received, so the colony of New Brunswick was created for them. About 10,000 went to Canada proper, especially the Eastern Townships of Quebec and modern-day Ontario. The Haldimand Collection is the main source for historians in the study of American Loyalists settlement in Canada.
   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:
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 Great 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 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.
   The richest and most prominent Loyalist exiles went to Great 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.
   Thousands of Iroquois and other Native Americans were expelled from New York and other states and resettled in Canada. The descendants 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. Count Rumford (Benjamin Thompson) was a loyalist who fled to London when the War began. He became a world class scientist, a founder of thermodynamics and famous also for research in artillery ordnance. He expressed a desire to return to the United States in 1799 and was eagerly sought by the Americans (who needed help in fighting the Quasi-War with France). Rumford eventually decided to stay in London because he was engrossed with establishing the Royal Institution in England.
   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.

Return of some Exiles

The great majority of Loyalists never left the United States, staying on, although not recognized as citizens of the new country. A few that had disowned their past allegiance became nationally prominent leaders, including Samuel Seabury and Tench Coxe. Some of the exiled sneaked back into Massachusetts as the ‘story’ implies. Of those who left Massachusetts, virtually none of them expressed a desire to return to what was their native home, as the wave of anti-Toryism persisted well after the peace treaty of 1783. Those Loyalists who were emotionally attached to the area and had stayed, were subjected to fines, land confiscation, no rights and triple taxation. Any making their way back to Massachusetts between 1784 and 1789 found their reception was as hostile as ever. They found that in Massachusetts in particular, they not only encountered extreme anti-Toryism, but society was so chaotic they couldn't re-integrate themselves back into society, unable to reclaim property, work in their profession, collect debts or join the political culture of the state. An exception was Captain Benjamin Hallowell, who, as Mandamus Councilor in Massachusetts, served as the direct representative of the Crown. In that role, he was considered by the insurgents as one of the most hated men in the Colony but as a token of compensation when he returned from England in 1796, his son was allowed to regain the family house.(External Link)

Prominent Loyalists

Further Information

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