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Loyalists were colonists in the
Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies, also known as the Thirteen British Colonies, the Thirteen American Colonies, or later as the United Colonies, were a group of British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America. Founded in the 17th and 18th centuri ...
who remained loyal to the
British Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
during the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
, often referred to as Tories, Royalists or King's Men at the time. They were opposed by the Patriots, who supported the revolution, and called them "persons inimical to the liberties of America." Prominent Loyalists repeatedly assured the British government that many thousands of them would spring to arms and fight for the crown. The British government acted in expectation of that, especially in the southern campaigns in 1780–81. Britain was able to effectively protect the people only in areas where they had military control, and in return, the number of military Loyalists was significantly lower than what had been expected. Due to the conflicting political views, loyalists were often under suspicion of those in the British military, who did not know whom they could fully trust in such a conflicted situation; they were often looked down upon. Patriots watched suspected Loyalists very closely and would not tolerate any organized Loyalist opposition. Many outspoken or militarily active Loyalists were forced to flee, especially to their stronghold of New York City.
William Franklin William Franklin (22 February 1730 – 17 November 1813) was an American-born attorney, soldier, politician, and colonial administrator. He was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. William Franklin was the last colonial Go ...
, the royal governor of New Jersey and son of Patriot leader
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...
, became the leader of the Loyalists after his release from a Patriot prison in 1778. He worked to build Loyalist military units to fight in the war.
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
wrote that "there had been no less than twenty-five thousand loyalists enlisted in the British service during the five years of the fighting. At one time (1779) they had actually outnumbered the whole of the continental muster under the personal command of Washington." When their cause was defeated, about 15 percent of the Loyalists (65,000–70,000 people) fled to other parts of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
; especially to Britain itself, or to
British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...
(now Canada). The southern Loyalists moved mostly to Florida, which had remained loyal to the Crown, and to British Caribbean possessions. Northern Loyalists largely migrated to Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. They called themselves
United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America dur ...
s. Most were compensated with Canadian land or British cash distributed through formal claims procedures. Loyalists who left the US received over £3 million or about 37% of their losses from the British government. Loyalists who stayed in the US were generally able to retain their property and become American citizens. Many Loyalists eventually returned to the US after the war and discriminatory laws had been repealed. Historians have estimated that between 15 and 20% of the 2,000,000 whites in the colonies in 1775 were Loyalists (300,000–400,000).


Background

Families were often divided during the American Revolution, and many felt themselves to be both American and British, still owing a loyalty to the mother country. Maryland lawyer Daniel Dulaney the Younger opposed taxation without representation but would not break his oath to the King or take up arms against him. He wrote: "There may be a time when redress may not be obtained. Till then, I shall recommend a legal, orderly, and prudent resentment". Most Americans hoped for a peaceful reconciliation but were forced to choose sides by the Patriots who took control nearly everywhere in the Thirteen Colonies in 1775–76.


Motives for Loyalism

Yale historian Leonard Woods Larabee has identified eight characteristics of the Loyalists that made them essentially conservative and loyal to the King and to Britain: * They were older, better established, and resisted radical change. * They felt that rebellion against the Crown – the legitimate government – was morally wrong. They saw themselves as
Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ameri ...
but loyal to the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
and saw a rebellion against Great Britain as a betrayal to the Empire. At the time the national identity of Americans was still in formation and the very idea of two separate peoples (nationalities) with their own sovereign states (the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United States of America) was itself revolutionary. * They felt alienated when the Patriots (seen by them as separatists who rebelled against the Crown) resorted to violence, such as burning down houses and
tarring and feathering Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a ty ...
. * They wanted to take a middle-of-the-road position and were not pleased when forced by Patriots to declare their opposition. * They had business and family links with Britain. * They felt that independence from Britain would come eventually, but wanted it to come about organically. * They were wary that chaos, corruption, and mob rule would come about as a result of revolution. * Some were “pessimists” who did not display the same belief in the future that the Patriots did. Others recalled the dreadful experiences of many Jacobite rebels after the failure of the last Jacobite rebellion as recently as 1745 who often lost their lands when the Hanoverian government won. Other motives of the Loyalists included: * They felt a need for order and believed that Parliament was the legitimate authority. * In New York, powerful families had assembled colony-wide coalitions of supporters; men long associated with the French Huguenot/Dutch De Lancey faction went along when its leadership decided to support the crown. * They felt themselves to be weak or threatened within American society and in need of an outside defender such as the British Crown and Parliament. *
Black loyalists Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with the Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term refers to men who escaped enslavement by Patriot masters and served on the Loyalist side because of the Cr ...
were promised freedom from slavery by the British. * They felt that being a part of the British Empire was crucial in terms of commerce and their business operations.


Loyalism and military operations

In the opening months of the Revolutionary War, the Patriots laid siege to
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...
, where most of the British forces were stationed. Elsewhere there were few British troops and the Patriots seized control of all levels of government, as well as supplies of arms and gunpowder. Vocal Loyalists recruited people to their side, often with the encouragement and assistance of royal governors. In the South Carolina back country, Loyalist recruitment outstripped that of Patriots. A brief siege at
Ninety Six, South Carolina Ninety Six is a town in Greenwood County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,998 at the 2010 census. Geography Ninety Six is located in eastern Greenwood County at (34.173211, -82.021710). South Carolina Highway 34 passes throu ...
in the fall of 1775 was followed by a rapid rise in Patriot recruiting. In what became known as the
Snow Campaign The Snow Campaign was one of the first major military operations of the American Revolutionary War in the southern colonies. An army of up to 3,000 Patriot militia under Colonel Richard Richardson marched against Loyalist recruiting centers in ...
, partisan militia arrested or drove out most of the back country Loyalist leadership. North Carolina back country Scots and former
Regulators Regulator may refer to: Technology * Regulator (automatic control), a device that maintains a designated characteristic, as in: ** Battery regulator ** Pressure regulator ** Diving regulator ** Voltage regulator * Regulator (sewer), a control dev ...
joined forces in early 1776, but they were broken as a force at the
Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge was a minor conflict of the American Revolutionary War fought near Wilmington (present-day Pender County), North Carolina, on February 27, 1776. The victory of the North Carolina Provincial Congress' militia ...
. By July 4, 1776, the Patriots had gained control of virtually all territory in the Thirteen Colonies and expelled all royal officials. No one who openly proclaimed their loyalty to the Crown was allowed to remain, so Loyalists fled or kept quiet. Some of those who remained later gave aid to invading British armies or joined uniformed Loyalist regiments. The British were forced out of Boston by March 17, 1776. They regrouped at Halifax and attacked
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
in August, defeating
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
's army at Long Island and capturing New York City and its vicinity, and they occupied the mouth of the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between New ...
until 1783. British forces seized control of other cities, including Philadelphia (1777), Savannah, Georgia (1778–83), and
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint ...
(1780–82). But 90% of the colonial population lived outside the cities, with the effective result that Congress represented 80 to 90 percent of the population. The British removed their governors from colonies where the Patriots were in control, but Loyalist civilian government was re-established in coastal
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
Georgia Encyclopædia
.
from 1779 to 1782, despite the presence of Patriot forces in the northern part of Georgia. Essentially, the British were only able to maintain power in areas where they had a strong military presence.


Numbers of Loyalists

Historian Robert Calhoon wrote in 2000, concerning the proportion of Loyalists to Patriots in the Thirteen Colonies: Before Calhoon's work, estimates of the Loyalist share of the population were somewhat higher, at about one-third, but these estimates are now rejected as too high by most scholars. In 1968 historian Paul H. Smith estimated there were about 400,000 Loyalists, or 16% of the white population of 2.25 million in 1780. Historian Robert Middlekauff summarized scholarly research on the nature of Loyalist support as follows:
The largest number of loyalists were found in the
middle colonies The Middle Colonies were a subset of the Thirteen Colonies in British America, located between the New England Colonies and the Southern Colonies. Along with the Chesapeake Colonies, this area now roughly makes up the Mid-Atlantic states. M ...
: many
tenant farmer A tenant farmer is a person ( farmer or farmworker) who resides on land owned by a landlord. Tenant farming is an agricultural production system in which landowners contribute their land and often a measure of operating capital and management ...
s of
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
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 The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sc ...
in the Carolinas, a fair number of Anglican clergy and their parishioners in Connecticut and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
, a few Presbyterians in the southern colonies, and a large number of the Iroquois stayed loyal to the king.
After the British military capture of New York City and Long Island it became the British military and political base of operations in North America from 1776 to 1783, prompting revolutionaries to flee and resulting in a large concentration of Loyalists, many of whom were refugees from other states.Calhoon (1973) According to Calhoon, Loyalists tended to be older and wealthier, but there were also many Loyalists of humble means. Many active Church of England members became Loyalists. Some recent arrivals from Britain, especially those from Scotland, had a high Loyalist proportion. Loyalists in the southern colonies were suppressed by the local Patriots, who controlled local and state government. Many people—including former
Regulators Regulator may refer to: Technology * Regulator (automatic control), a device that maintains a designated characteristic, as in: ** Battery regulator ** Pressure regulator ** Diving regulator ** Voltage regulator * Regulator (sewer), a control dev ...
in North Carolina — refused to join the rebellion, as they had earlier protested against corruption by local authorities who later became Revolutionary leaders. The oppression by the local Whigs during the Regulation led to many of the residents of backcountry North Carolina sitting out the Revolution or siding with the Loyalists. In areas under Patriot control, Loyalists were subject to confiscation of property, and outspoken supporters of the king were threatened with public humiliation such as
tarring and feathering Tarring and feathering is a form of public torture and punishment used to enforce unofficial justice or revenge. It was used in feudal Europe and its colonies in the early modern period, as well as the early American frontier, mostly as a ty ...
, or physical attack. It is not known how many Loyalist civilians were harassed by the Patriots, but the treatment was a warning to other Loyalists not to take up arms. In September 1775,
William Drayton William Drayton (December 30, 1776May 24, 1846) was an American politician, banker, and writer who grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. He was the son of William Drayton Sr., who served as justice of the Province of East Florida (1765–178 ...
and Loyalist leader Colonel Thomas Fletchall signed a treaty of neutrality in the interior community of Ninety Six, South Carolina. For actively aiding the British army when it occupied Philadelphia, two residents of the city were tried for treason, convicted, and executed by returning Patriot forces.


Slavery and Black Loyalists

As a result of the looming crisis in 1775, the Royal Governor of Virginia,
Lord Dunmore Earl of Dunmore is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. History The title was created in 1686 for Lord Charles Murray, second son of John Murray, 1st Marquess of Atholl. He was made Lord Murray of Blair, Moulin and Tillimet (or Tullimet) and ...
, issued a proclamation that promised freedom to indentured servants and slaves who were able to bear arms and join his Loyalist
Ethiopian Regiment The Ethiopian Regiment, better known as Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, was a British colonial military unit organized during the American Revolution by the Earl of Dunmore, last Royal Governor of Virginia. Composed of formerly enslaved peopl ...
. Many of the slaves in the South joined the Loyalists with intentions of gaining freedom and escaping the South. About 800 did so; some helped rout the Virginia militia at the
Battle of Kemp's Landing The Battle of Kemp's Landing, also known as the Skirmish of Kempsville, was a skirmish in the American Revolutionary War that occurred on November 15, 1775. Militia companies from Princess Anne County in the Province of Virginia assembled at K ...
and fought in the
Battle of Great Bridge The Battle of Great Bridge was fought December 9, 1775, in the area of Great Bridge, Virginia, early in the American Revolutionary War. The victory by colonial Virginia militia forces led to the departure of Royal Governor Lord Dunmore and any ...
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 Chesapeake often refers to: *Chesapeake people, a Native American tribe also known as the Chesepian * The Chesapeake, a.k.a. Chesapeake Bay *Delmarva Peninsula, also known as the Chesapeake Peninsula Chesapeake may also refer to: Populated plac ...
area. Eventually the camp that they had 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 Loyalist units and continued to serve throughout the war.
African-Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
were often the first to come forward to volunteer and a total of 12,000 African Americans served with the British from 1775 to 1783. This forced the Patriots to also offer freedom to those who would serve in the Continental Army, with thousands of
Black Patriots Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have of ...
serving in the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
. Americans who gained their freedom by fighting for the British became known as
Black Loyalist Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with the Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term refers to men who escaped enslavement by Patriot masters and served on the Loyalist side because of the Cr ...
s. The British honored the pledge of freedom in New York City through the efforts of General Guy Carleton, who recorded the names of African Americans who had supported the British in a document called the
Book of Negroes The ''Book of Negroes'' is a document created by Brigadier General Samuel Birch, under the direction of Sir Guy Carleton, that records names and descriptions of 3,000 Black Loyalists, enslaved Africans who escaped to the British lines during ...
, which granted freedom to slaves who had escaped and assisted the British. About 4,000 Black Loyalists went to the British colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where they were promised land grants. They founded communities across the two provinces, many of which still exist today. Over 2,500 settled in
Birchtown, Nova Scotia Birchtown is a community and National Historic Site in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located near Shelburne in the Municipal District of Shelburne County. Founded in 1783, the village was the largest settlement of Black Loyalists and th ...
, instantly making it the largest free black community in North America. However, the long period of waiting time to be officially given land grants that were given to them and the prejudices of white Loyalists in nearby Shelburne who regularly harassed the settlement in events such as the Shelburne Riots in 1784, made life very difficult for the community. In 1791 the
Sierra Leone Company The Sierra Leone Company was the corporate body involved in founding the second British colony in Africa on 11 March 1792 through the resettlement of Black Loyalists who had initially been settled in Nova Scotia (the Nova Scotian Settlers) afte ...
offered to transport dissatisfied black Loyalists to the nascent colony of Sierra Leone in West Africa, with the promise of better land and more equality. About 1,200 left Nova Scotia for Sierra Leone, where they named the capital Freetown. After 1787 they became Sierra Leone's ruling elite during the colonial era and their descendants, the
Sierra Leone Creoles The Sierra Leone Creole people ( kri, Krio people) are an ethnic group of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Creole people are lineal descendant, descendants of freed African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Liberated African slaves who settled in the ...
, are the cultural elites of the nation. About 400 to 1,000 free blacks who joined the British side in the Revolution went to London and joined the free black community of about 10,000 there.


Loyalist women

While men were out fighting for the Crown, women served at home protecting their land and property. At the end of the war, many loyalist men left America for the shelter of England, leaving their wives and daughters to protect their land The main punishment for Loyalist families was the expropriation of property, but married women were protected under "
feme covert Coverture (sometimes spelled couverture) was a legal doctrine in the English common law in which a married woman's legal existence was considered to be merged with that of her husband, so that she had no independent legal existence of her own. ...
", which meant that they had no political identity and their legal rights were absorbed by their husbands. This created an awkward dilemma for the confiscation committees: confiscating the land of such a woman would punish her for her husband's actions. In many cases, the women did not get a choice on if they were labeled a loyalist or a patriot; the label was dependent on their husband's political association. However, some women showed their loyalty to the crown by continually purchasing British goods, writing it down, and showing resistance to the Patriots. Grace Growden Galloway recorded the experience in her diary. Her writings show the difficulties that her family faced during the revolution. Galloway's property was seized by the
Rebels Rebels may refer to: * Participants in a rebellion * Rebel groups, people who refuse obedience or order * Rebels (American Revolution), patriots who rejected British rule in 1776 Film and television * ''Rebels'' (film) or ''Rebelles'', a 2019 ...
and she spent the rest of her life fighting to regain it. It was returned to her heirs in 1783, after she and her husband had died. Patriot allowed women to become involved in politics in a larger scale than the loyalist. Some women involved in political activity include Catharine Macaulay (a loyalist) and Mercy Otis Warren who were both writers during this time. Both women maintained a 20-year friendship although they wrote about different sides of the war. Macaulay wrote from a loyalist British perspective whereas Warren wrote about her support for the American Revolution. Macaulay's work include ''History of England'' and Warren wrote ''History of the Rise'', ''Progress'', and ''Termination of the American Revolution.'' Although both women's works were unpopular, during this time, it pushed them to learn from social critique.


Loyalism in Canada and Nova Scotia

Rebel agents were active in Quebec (which was then frequently called "Canada", the name of the earlier French province) in the months leading to the outbreak of active hostilities. John Brown, an agent of the Boston Committee of Correspondence, worked with Canadian merchant Thomas Walker and other rebel sympathisers during the winter of 1774–1775 to convince inhabitants to support the actions of the First Continental Congress. However, many of Quebec's inhabitants remained neutral, resisting service to either the British or the Americans. Although some Canadians took up arms in support of the rebellion, the majority remained loyal to the King.
French Canadians French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...
had been satisfied by the British government's
Quebec Act The Quebec Act 1774 (french: Acte de Québec), or British North America (Quebec) Act 1774, was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which set procedures of governance in the Province of Quebec. One of the principal components of the Act w ...
of 1774, which offered religious and linguistic toleration; in general, they did not sympathize with a rebellion that they saw as being led by Protestants from New England, who were their commercial rivals and hereditary enemies. Most of the
English-speaking Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...
settlers had arrived following the British
conquest of Canada Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, ...
in 1759–1760, and were unlikely to support separation from Britain. The older British colonies, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia (including what is now New Brunswick) also remained loyal and contributed military forces in support of the Crown. In late 1775 the
Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...
sent a force into Quebec, led by General
Richard Montgomery Richard Montgomery (2 December 1738 – 31 December 1775) was an Irish soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and he is most famous for l ...
and Colonel
Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defecti ...
, with the goal of convincing the residents of Quebec to join the Revolution. Although only a minority of Canadians openly expressed loyalty to King George, about 1,500 militia fought for the King in the
Siege of Fort St. Jean The siege of Fort St. Jean (September 17 – November 3, 1775, also called St. John, St. Johns, or St. John's, french: Siège du Fort Saint-Jean) was conducted by American Brigadier General Richard Montgomery on the town and fort of Saint-Jean ...
. In the region south of Montreal that was occupied by the Continentals, some inhabitants supported the rebellion and raised two regiments to join the Patriot forces.Mason Wade, ''The French Canadians'' (1955) 1:67–9. In Nova Scotia, there were many Yankee settlers originally from New England, and they generally supported the principles of the revolution. The allegiance toward the rebellion waned as American privateers raided Nova Scotia communities throughout the war. As well, the Nova Scotia government used the law to convict people for sedition and treason for supporting the rebel cause. There was also the influence of an influx of recent immigration from the British isles, and they remained neutral during the war, and the influx was greatest in Halifax. Britain in any case built up powerful forces at the naval base of Halifax after the failure of
Jonathan Eddy Jonathan Eddy (–1804) was a British-American soldier, who fought for the British in the French and Indian War and for the Americans in the American Revolution. After the French and Indian War, he settled in Nova Scotia as a New England Planter ...
to capture Fort Cumberland in 1776. Although the Continentals captured Montreal in November 1775, they were turned back a month later at Quebec City by a combination of the British military under Governor Guy Carleton, the difficult terrain and weather, and an indifferent local response. The Continental forces would be driven from Quebec in 1776, after the breakup of ice on the St. Lawrence River and the arrival of British transports in May and June. There would be no further serious attempt to challenge British control of present-day Canada until the War of 1812. In 1777, 1,500 Loyalist militia took part in the Saratoga campaign in New York, and surrendered with General Burgoyne after the
Battles of Saratoga The Battles of Saratoga (September 19 and October 7, 1777) marked the climax of the Saratoga campaign, giving a decisive victory to the Americans over the British in the American Revolutionary War. British General John Burgoyne led an invasion ...
in October. For the rest of the war, Quebec acted as a base for raiding expeditions, conducted primarily by Loyalists and Indians, against frontier communities.


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 Loyalists (50 units and 312 companies). The maximum strength of the Loyalist provincial line was 9,700 in December 1780.Calhoon 502. In all about 19,000 at one time or another were soldiers or militia in British forces. Loyalists from South Carolina fought for the British in the
Battle of Camden The Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780), also known as the Battle of Camden Court House, was a major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General ...
. The British forces at the
Battle of Monck's Corner The Battle of Monck's Corner was fought on April 14, 1780, outside the city of Charleston, South Carolina, which was under siege by British forces under the command of General Sir Henry Clinton in the American Revolutionary War. The Loyalist Bri ...
and the
Battle of Lenud's Ferry The Battle of Lenud's Ferry was a battle of the American Revolutionary War that was fought on May 6, 1780 in present-day Berkeley County, South Carolina. All of the British soldiers who took part in the Battle of Lenud's Ferry were in fact Loyali ...
consisted entirely of Loyalists with the exception of the commanding officer (
Banastre Tarleton Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 175415 January 1833) was a British general and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolution. He later served in Portug ...
). Both white and black Loyalists fought for the British at the
Battle of Kemp's Landing The Battle of Kemp's Landing, also known as the Skirmish of Kempsville, was a skirmish in the American Revolutionary War that occurred on November 15, 1775. Militia companies from Princess Anne County in the Province of Virginia assembled at K ...
in Virginia.


Emigration from the United States

Estimates for how many Loyalists emigrated after the war differ. Historian
Maya Jasanoff Maya R. Jasanoff is an American academic. She serves as Coolidge Professor of History at Harvard University, where she focuses on the history of Britain and the British Empire. Early life Jasanoff grew up in Ithaca, New York and comes from a ...
calculated 60,000 in total went to British North America, including about 50,000 whites, however Philip Ranlet estimates that only 20,000 adult white Loyalists went to Canada, while Wallace Brown cites about 80,000 Loyalists in total permanently left the United States. According to Jasanoff, the majority of these Loyalists – 36,000 – went to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, while about 6,600 went to Quebec and 2,000 to Prince Edward Island. About 5,090 white Loyalists went to Florida, bringing along their slaves who numbered about 8,285 (421 whites and 2,561 blacks returned to the States from Florida). When Florida was returned to Spain, however, very few Loyalists remained there. Approximately 6,000 whites went to Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, notably the Bahamas, and about 13,000 went to Britain (including 5,000 free blacks). The total is 60–62,000 whites. A precise figure cannot be known because the records were incomplete and inaccurate, and small numbers continued to leave after 1783. The 50,000 or so white departures represented about 10% of the Loyalists (at 20-25% of the white population). Loyalists (especially soldiers and former officials) could choose evacuation. Loyalists whose roots were not yet deeply embedded in the United States were more likely to leave; older people who had familial bonds and had acquired friends, property, and a degree of social respectability were more likely to remain in the US. The vast majority of the half-million white Loyalists, about 20-25% of the total number of whites, remained in the US. Starting in the mid–1780s a small percentage of those who had left returned to the United States. The exiles amounted to about 2% of the total US population of 3 million at the end of the war in 1783. After 1783 some former Loyalists, especially Germans from Pennsylvania, emigrated to Canada to take advantage of the British government's offer of free land. Many departed the fledgling United States because they faced continuing hostility. In another migration-motivated mainly by economic rather than political reasons- more than 20,000 and perhaps as many as 30,000 "Late Loyalists" arrived in Ontario in the 1790s attracted by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe's policy of land and low taxes, one-fifth those in the US and swearing an oath of allegiance to the King. The 36,000 or so who went to Nova Scotia were not well received by the 17,000 Nova Scotians, who were mostly descendants of New Englanders settled there before the Revolution. "They he Loyalists, Colonel Thomas Dundas wrote in 1786, "have experienced every possible injury from the old inhabitants of Nova Scotia, who are even more disaffected towards the British Government than any of the new States ever were. This makes me much doubt their remaining long dependent." In response, the colony of New Brunswick, until 1784 part of Nova Scotia, was created for the 14,000 who had settled in those parts. Of the 46,000 who went to Canada, 10,000 went to Quebec, especially what is now modern-day Ontario, the rest to Nova Scotia and PEI. Realizing the importance of some type of consideration, on November 9, 1789,
Lord Dorchester Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 177 ...
, 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 An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
." 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
post-nominals Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...
"U.E." are rarely seen today, but the influence of the Loyalists on the evolution of Canada remains. Their ties to Britain and/or 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 Mob rule or ochlocracy ( el, ὀχλοκρατία, translit=okhlokratía; la, ochlocratia) is the rule of government by a mob or mass of people and the intimidation of legitimate authorities. Insofar as it represents a pejorative for majo ...
" influenced Canada's gradual path to independence. The new British North American provinces of
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...
(the forerunner of Ontario) and New Brunswick were founded as places of refuge for the United Empire Loyalists. In an interesting historical twist Peter Matthews, a son of Loyalists, participated in the Upper Canada Rebellion which sought relief from oligarchic British colonial government and pursued American-style Republicanism. He was arrested, tried and executed in Toronto, and later became heralded as a patriot to the movement which led to Canadian self governance. The wealthiest 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, particularly to the
Abaco Islands Abaco is a variant Italian form of the Biblical name "Habakkuk" (but normally Abacùc or Abacucco). Abaco may refer to: People *Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco (1675–1742), Italian composer and violinist *Joseph Abaco (1710–1805), Belgian compose ...
in the
Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...
. Certain Loyalists who fled the United States brought their slaves with them to Canada (mostly to areas that later became Ontario and New Brunswick) where slavery was legal. An imperial law in 1790 assured prospective immigrants to Canada that their slaves would remain their property. However, a law enacted by eminent British lieutenant general and founder of modern Toronto
John Graves Simcoe John Graves Simcoe (25 February 1752 – 26 October 1806) was a British Army general and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada from 1791 until 1796 in southern Ontario and the watersheds of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. He founded Yor ...
in 1793 entitled the
Act Against Slavery The ''Act Against Slavery'' was an anti-slavery law passed on July 9, 1793, in the second legislative session of Upper Canada, the colonial division of British North America that would eventually become Ontario. It banned the importation of sla ...
tried to suppress slavery in
Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of th ...
by halting the sale of slaves to the United States, and by freeing slaves upon their escape from the latter into Canada. Simcoe desired to demonstrate the merits of
loyalism Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...
and
abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...
in Upper Canada in contrast to the nascent republicanism and prominence of slavery in the United States, and, according to historian Stanley R. Mealing: :"...he had not only the most articulate faith in its imperial destiny but also the most sympathetic appreciation of the interests and aspirations of its inhabitants". However the actual law was a compromise. According to historian Afua Cooper, Simcoe's law required children in slavery to be freed when they reached age 25 and: :forbade the importation of slaves but, to Simcoe's disappointment, did not grant freedom to adult slaves. Having not been freed by the act, many Canadian slaves fled across the border into the Old Northwest Territory, where slavery had been abolished. 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. (The remainder, under the leadership of
Cornplanter John Abeel III (born between 1732 and 1746–February 18, 1836), known as Gaiänt'wakê (''Gyantwachia'' – "the planter") or Kaiiontwa'kon (''Kaintwakon'' – "By What One Plants") in the Seneca language and thus generally known as Cornplante ...
(John Abeel) and members of his family, stayed in New York.) A group of African-American Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia but emigrated again for Sierra Leone after facing
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of Racial discrimination, r ...
there. Many of the Loyalists were forced to abandon substantial properties to America restoration of or compensation for these lost properties was a major issue during the negotiation of the Jay Treaty in 1794. The British Government eventually settled several thousand claims for more than 3.5 million Pounds Sterling, an enormous sum of money worth at that time.


Return of some expatriates

The great majority of Loyalists never left the United States; they stayed on and were allowed to be citizens of the new country. Some became nationally prominent leaders, including Samuel Seabury, who was the first Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and
Tench Coxe Tench Coxe (May 22, 1755July 17, 1824) was an American political economist and a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress in 1788–1789. He wrote under the pseudonym "A Pennsylvanian," and was known to his political enemies as ...
. There was a small, but significant trickle of returnees who found life in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick too difficult. Perhaps 10% of the refugees to New Brunswick returned to the States as did an unknown number from Nova Scotia. Some Massachusetts Tories settled in the Maine District. Nevertheless, the vast majority never returned. Captain Benjamin Hallowell, who as Mandamus Councilor in Massachusetts served as the direct representative of the Crown, 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.
Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first United States secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795. Born out of wedlock in Charlest ...
enlisted the help of the Tories (ex-Loyalists) in New York in 1782–85 to forge an alliance with moderate Whigs to wrest the State from the power of the Clinton faction. Moderate Whigs in other States who had not been in favor of separation from Britain but preferred a negotiated settlement which would have maintained ties to the Mother Country mobilized to block radicals. Most States had rescinded anti-Tory laws by 1787, although the accusation of being a Tory was heard for another generation. Several hundred who had left for Florida returned to Georgia in 1783–84. South Carolina which had seen a bitter bloody internal civil war in 1780-82 adopted a policy of reconciliation that proved more moderate than any other state. About 4500 white Loyalists left when the war ended, but the majority remained behind. The state government successfully and quickly reincorporated the vast majority. During the war, pardons were offered to Loyalists who switched sides and joined the Patriot forces. Others were required to pay a 10% fine of the value of the property. The legislature named 232 Loyalists liable for the confiscation of their property, but most appealed and were forgiven. In Connecticut much to the disgust of the Radical Whigs the moderate Whigs were advertising in New York newspapers in 1782-83 that Tories who would make no trouble would be welcome on the grounds that their skills and money would help the State's economy. The Moderates prevailed. All anti-Tory laws were repealed in early 1783 except for the law relating to confiscated Tory estates: "... the problem of the loyalists after 1783 was resolved in their favor after the War of Independence ended." In 1787 the last of any discriminatory laws were rescinded.


Effect of the departure of Loyalist leaders

The departure of so many royal officials, rich merchants and landed gentry destroyed the hierarchical networks that had dominated most of the colonies. A major result was that a Patriot/Whig elite supplanted royal officials and affluent Tories. In New York, the departure of key members of the De Lancey, De Peyster, Walton and Cruger families undercut the interlocking families that largely owned and controlled the Hudson Valley. Likewise in Pennsylvania, the departure of powerful families—Penn, Allen, Chew, Shippen—destroyed the cohesion of the old upper class there. Massachusetts passed an act banishing forty-six Boston merchants in 1778, including members of some of Boston's wealthiest families. The departure of families such as the Ervings, Winslows, Clarks, and Lloyds deprived Massachusetts of men who had hitherto been leaders of networks of family and clients. The bases of the men who replaced them were much different. One rich Patriot in Boston noted in 1779 that "fellows who would have cleaned my shoes five years ago, have amassed fortunes and are riding in chariots." New men became rich merchants but they shared a spirit of republican equality that replaced the former elitism. The Patriot reliance on Catholic France for military, financial and diplomatic aid led to a sharp drop in anti-Catholic rhetoric. Indeed, the king replaced the pope as the demon Patriots had to fight against. Anti-Catholicism remained strong among Loyalists, some of whom went to Canada after the war most remained in the new nation. By the 1780s, Catholics were extended legal toleration in all of the New England states that previously had been so hostile. "In the midst of war and crisis, New Englanders gave up not only their allegiance to Britain but one of their most dearly held prejudices."


Loyalists in art

* John Singleton Copley painted many prominent Loyalists and produced an oil-on-canvas depiction of a soldier wearing the uniform of the Royal Ethiopian Regiment (a regiment composed of black Loyalist soldiers) in '' The Death of Major Pierson'' (1784). *
Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...
characterized the ethnic and economic diversity of the Loyalists in his ''Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain in the Year 1783''. The original painting was lost, but a smaller version of it can be seen in the background of West's portrait of John Eardley Wilmot. * Gilbert Stuart painted a portrait of James DeLancey around 1785. It stays in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a bequest of his descendant George DeLancey Harris, Jr. of New York City &
Annapolis Royal, NS Annapolis Royal, formerly known as Port Royal, is a town located in the western part of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. Today's Annapolis Royal is the second French settlement known by the same name and should not be confused with the ne ...
. File:John Singleton Copley 001.jpg, John Copley's "The Death of Major Pierson" File:Benjamin West - John Eardley Wilmot - Google Art Project.jpg, Benjamin West's "John Eardley Wilmot"


Loyalists in literature

* ''The Adventures of Jonathan Corncob, Loyal American Refugee'' (1787) by Jonathan Corncob. According to Maya Jasanoff, "traveling to London to file a claim served as the opening gambit" for this " picaresque novel about the American Revolution". * "
Rip Van Winkle "Rip Van Winkle" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who meets mysterious Dutchmen, imbibes their liquor and falls asle ...
" (1819), short story by
Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories " Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legen ...
* '' The Spy: a Tale of the Neutral Ground'' (1821), novel by James Fenimore Cooper * ''Oliver Wiswell'' (1940), a novel by Kenneth Roberts * '' The Book of Negroes'' (2007) by Lawrence Hill * '' The Fort'' (2010), novel by
Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written '' The Saxon ...
* Well received historical fiction account of the life of Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson


List of notable Loyalists


See also

*
Monarchism in the United States Monarchism in the United States is the advocacy of a monarchical form of government in the United States of America. During the American Revolution a significant element of the population remained loyal to the British crown. However, aside from a f ...
* American Revolution - Nova Scotia theatre * Expulsion of the Loyalists * List of places named for Loyalists (American Revolution) * Frederick Haldimand (1718–1791) while serving in Canada amassed a hug
collection
filling 115 microfilm reels of documents, letters, etc. reflecting the Loyalist experience in Canada.

to this collection may be found on the Queens University Archives website. * Godfrey–Milliken Bill, proposed Canadian law demanding compensation from the US for Loyalist claims after its independence. * Lorenzo Sabine (1803–1877), early historian and chronicler of the Loyalist experience * ''
Martin v. Hunter's Lessee ''Martin v. Hunter's Lessee'', 14 U.S. (1 Wheat.) 304 (1816), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States decided on March 20, 1816. It was the first case to assert ultimate Supreme Court authority over state courts in civil ...
'' *
Maryland Loyalists Battalion The Maryland Loyalists Battalion, referred to in Captain Caleb Jones's orderly book as the First Battalion of Maryland Loyalists, was a British provincial regiment of colonial American Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. American Re ...
* Tory *
Treaty of Paris (1783) The Treaty of Paris, signed in Paris by representatives of King George III of Great Britain and representatives of the United States of America on September 3, 1783, officially ended the American Revolutionary War and overall state of conflict ...
*
United Empire Loyalist United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America dur ...


References

Notes Further reading * Allen, Thomas B. ''Tories: Fighting for the King in America's First Civil War.'' New York: HarperCollins, 2010. 496 pp. * Andrews, Matthew Page, ''History of Maryland'', Doubleday, New York (1929) * Bailyn, Bernard. ''The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution'' (2nd ed. 1992) pp 230–319. * ———. ''The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson: Loyalism and the Destruction of the First British Empire'' (1974), full scale biography of the most prominent Loyalist * Brown, Wallace. "The Loyalists and the American Revolution." ''History Today'' (Mar 1962), 12# 3, pp149–157. * 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); reprinted in * Calhoon, Robert M. ''The Loyalists in Revolutionary America, 1760–1781'' (1973), the most detailed scholarly study * Calhoon, Robert M., Timothy M. Barnes and George A. Rawlyk, eds. ''Loyalists and Community in North America'' (1994). * Chopra, Ruma. "Enduring Patterns of Loyalist Study: Definitions and Contours" ''History Compass'' (2013) 11#11 pp 983–993, DOI: 10.1111/hic3.12105 * Chopra, Ruma. ''Choosing Sides: Loyalists in Revolutionary America'' (2015) * Doré, Gilbert. "Why The Loyalists Lost," ''Early America Review'' (Winter 2000
online
* Frazer, Gregg L. ''God Against the Revolution: The Loyalist Clergy's Case against the American Revolution'' Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 2018. * Jasanoff, Maya. ''Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World'' (2011), a comprehensive treatment, winner of the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award for Non-Fiction and 2012
George Washington Book Prize The George Washington Book Prize was instituted in 2005 and is awarded annually to the best book on the founding era of the United States; especially ones that have the potential to advance broad public understanding of American history. It is admi ...
* Jensen, Merrill. ''The New Nation: A History of the United States during the Confederation, 1781–1789'' 1950; detailed discussion of return of Loyalists, popular anger at their return; repeal of wartime laws against them * Kermes, Stephanie. "'I Wish for Nothing More Ardent upon Earth, than to See My Friends and Country Again': The Return of Massachusetts Loyalists." ''Historical Journal of Massachusetts'' 2002 30(1): 30–49. * 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 moved to Canada. * Lambert, Robert Stansbury. ''South Carolina Loyalists in the American Revolution'' (2nd ed. Clemson University Digital Press, 2011)
full text online free
273 pp * Middlekauff, Robert. "The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789." (2005 edition) * Moore, Christopher. ''The Loyalist: Revolution Exile Settlement''. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart (1994). * Mason, Keith. "The American Loyalist Diaspora and the Reconfiguration of the British Atlantic World." In ''Empire and Nation: The American Revolution and the Atlantic World'', ed. Eliga H. Gould and Peter S. Onuf (2005). * Nelson, William H. ''The American Tory'' (1961) * Norton, Mary Beth. ''The British-Americans: The Loyalist Exiles in England, 1774–1789''. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1972. * ———. ''Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750–1800'' (1996) * ———. "The Problem of the Loyalist—and the Problems of Loyalist Historians," ''Reviews in American History'' June 1974 v.2 #2 pp 226–231 * Peck, Epaphroditus; ''The Loyalists of Connecticut'' Yale University Press
(1934) online
* Potter, Janice. ''The Liberty We Seek: Loyalist Ideology in Colonial New York and Massachusetts'' (1983). * Quarles, Benjamin; ''Black Mosaic: Essays in Afro-American History and Historiography'' University of Massachusetts Press. (1988) * Ranlet, Philip. "How Many American Loyalists Left the United States?." ''Historian'' 76.2 (2014): 278–307; estimates that only 20,000 adult white Loyalists went to Canada. * Ryerson, Egerton. ''The Loyalists of America and Their Times: From 1620 to 1816''. 2 volumes. Second edition. 1880. * Smith, Paul H. "The American Loyalists: Notes on Their Organization and Numerical Strength," ''William and Mary Quarterly'' 25 (1968): 259–77
in JSTOR
* Van Tyne, Claude Halstead. ''The Loyalists in the American Revolution'' (1902
online
* Wade, Mason. ''The French Canadians: 1760–1945'' (1955) 2 vol. ::Compiled volumes of biographical sketches * Palmer, Gregory. ''Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution''. Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1983. 998 pp. * Sabine, Lorenzo. ''The American Loyalists, or Biographical Sketches of Adherents to the British Crown in The War of the Revolution; Alphabetically Arranged; with a Preliminary Historical Essay.'' Boston, MA: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1847
Google Books vi, 733 pp.
* ———. ''Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution, with an Historical Essay''. 2 volumes. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1864
Google Books Volume 1—vi, 608 pp. Google Books Volume 2—600 pp.
::Studies of individual Loyalists * * Gainey, Joseph R. "Rev. Charles Woodmason (''c''. 1720–1789): Author, Loyalist, Missionary, and Psalmodist." ''West Gallery: The Newsletter of the West Gallery Music Association'' (), Issue No. 59 (Autumn 2011), pp. 18–25. This undocumented article is the first publication to identify Woodmason's parents, background, baptism, marriage, and burial dates and places and contains much previously unavailable information. * Hill, James Riley, III. ''An exercise in futility: the pre-Revolutionary career and influence of loyalist James Simpson''. M. A. Thesis. University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 1992. viii, 109 leaves ; 28 cm
OCLC 30807526
* Hooker, Richard J., ed. ''The Carolina Backcountry on the Eve of the Revolution: The Journal and Other Writings of Charles Woodmason, Anglican Itinerant''. 1953. * Lohrenz, Otto; "The Advantage of Rank and Status: Thomas Price, a Loyalist Parson of Revolutionary Virginia." ''The Historian.'' 60#3 (1998) pp 561+
online
* Randall, Willard Sterne. ''A Little Revenge: Benjamin Franklin & His Son'' Little, Brown & Co, 1984. * Skemp, Sheila. ''William Franklin: Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King'' Oxford University Press, 1990. * Wright, J. Leitch. ''William Augusutus Bowles: Director General of the Creek Nation''. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1967. * Zimmer, Anne Y. ''Jonathan Boucher, loyalist in exile''. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1978. ::Primary sources and guides to manuscripts and the literature * Allen, Robert S. ''Loyalist Literature: An Annotated Bibliographic Guide to the Writings on the Loyalists of the American Revolution''. Issue 2 of Dundurn Canadian historical document series, 1982. * Brown, Wallace. "Loyalist Historiography." ''Acadiensis'', Vol. 4, No. 1 (Autumn 1974), pp. 133–138. Link t
downloadable pdf
of this article. * ———
"The View at Two Hundred Years: The Loyalists of the American Revolution"
''Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society'', Vol. 80, Part 1 (April 1970), pp. 25–47. * Crary, Catherine S., ed. ''Price of Loyalty: Tory Writings from the Revolutionary Era'' (1973) * Egerton, Hugh Edward, ed. ''The Royal commission on the losses and services of American loyalists, 1783 to 1785, being the notes of Mr. Daniel Parker Coke, M. P., one of the commissioners during that period''. Oxford: The Roxburghe Club, 1915
Link to downloadable pdf
* Galloway, Joseph. ''The claim of the American loyalists: reviewed and maintained upon incontrovertible principles of law and justice''. G. and T. Wilkie, 1788. Downloadabl
Google Books pdf 138 pages


website, Harriet Irving Library, Fredericton campus, University of New Brunswick, Canada
Guide to the New York Public Library Loyalist Collection
(19 pdfs) * Palmer, Gregory S. ''A Bibliography of Loyalist Source Material in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain''. Westport, CT, 1982. * ''The Particular Case of the Georgia Loyalists: in Addition to the General Case and Claim of the American Loyalists, which was Lately Published by Order of Their Agents. February 1783''. n.p.:n.p., 1783. 16 pp
Google Books pdf


External links




The American Loyalists: Or, Biographical Sketches of Adherents to the ... (1847) by Lorenzo Sabine
Complete text of the first of two editions (the second appeared in 1864 in two volumes) of Sabine's ''magnum opus'' in pdf format.
Benjamin Franklin to Baron Francis Maseres, June 26, 1785
(Opinion of
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading intel ...
on persons who called themselves "Loyalists", whom he judged better called "Royalists")
Bibliography of the Loyalist Participation in the American Revolution
compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History
"Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People"

Haldimand Collection
The main source for historians in the study of the settlement of the American Loyalists in Canada. More than 20,000 letters and documents, now fully indexed, and free on the Web.
Story of Loyalist Privateer "Vengeance"


* ttp://www.royalprovincial.com/military/facts/ofrdecl.htm The Loyalist Declaration of Independencepublished in ''The Royal Gazette'' (New York) on November 17, 1781 (Transcription provided by Bruce Wallace and posted on The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies.)
The Loyalist Link: The Forest and The Sea – Port Roseway Loyalists



The Loyalist Research Network (LRN)
This website focuses on Canadian Loyalists, but, the links and bibliographies are extremely helpful to all serious Loyalist researchers.


The On-Line Institute for Advanced Loyalist Studies


* [https://books.google.com/books?id=LxKCmTq3cZwC&pg=PA244&dq=Joseph+Blaney+married+Abigail+Browne&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-y_f5yorbAhWD7IMKHTi0DSI4ChDoAQg_MAU#v=onepage&q=Joseph%20Blaney%20married%20Abigail%20Browne&f=false "Salem Loyalists-unpublished letters" THE NEW-ENGLAND HISTORICAL AND GEUEALOGICAL REGISTER AND ANTIQUARIAN JOURNAL 1872 pp.243-248]
"A Short History of the United Empire Loyalists" Ann Mackenzie


* Originally published in 1987. 272 pages, available online in PDF format.
United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada (UELAC)



“What is a Loyalist? The American Revolution as civil war”
by Prof. Edward Larkin published in www.common-place.org, Vol. 8, No. 1 (October 2007).

Videos * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loyalist, American Revolution Conservatism in the United States Toryism