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The American Revolution Loyalists Fought Against the Patriots. So Many Americans Struggle Today, There Should be None Loyal to Elites, so Let’s All Rise Against NWO.

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American Revolution Loyalists, or Tories as they were called by the colonists, were in opposition to the war and independence.

Loyalists stood firm against the Patriots who sought to to overtake Britain’s stranglehold on colonists.

Most British officials living in the colonies would remain loyal to the crown, as did many wealthy merchants and Anglican ministers.

Also, part of the Loyalist group was some Native Americans and German immigrants, who only supported Britain because George III was of German descent.

A few blacks also joined the Loyalists because they were promised freedom if the crown won the war.

The colonists felt that Loyalists were traitors who had turned on them in their fight for independence while the Loyalists thought of the colonists as American rebels.

Many of the Loyalists were located in New York because the British were still in total possession of the area from September of 1776 until they were evacuated in 1783.

Pennsylvania was also home to a large number of Loyalists, with some reaching down into the southern regions of Georgia and South Carolina.

The American Revolution Loyalists, though they fought a tough battle for what they believed in, were no match against the determined colonists.

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Commencement of War

Even when Loyalists knew the war was underway and the colonists were determined to have their independence from Britain, many Americans continued to consider themselves citizens of Britain, remaining steadfast and loyal to the crown of England.

About 16 percent of the population in the colonies was Loyalists, with about 50,000 of them moving up into what would be Canada to join British settlements throughout the region.

American Revolution Loyalists in New York, in March of 1777, established a brigade known as the Loyal American Regiment. Their leader was Beverley Robinson, a wealthy man from New York.

It was this brigade that was part of the treachery, alongside Benedict Arnold, for which they would be punished after the war by being sent to New Brunswick where they were given new land to make a fresh start.

Not all Loyalists were ready and willing to fight for Britain but it wasn’t an easy decision for them to make. They could either leave or start over in a new land, or they could stay and fight against the colonists.

Another option that some Loyalists chose over leaving or fighting the colonists was to join the fight for independence.

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Loyalists Put Lives on the Line

Just as the Patriots, the American Revolution Loyalists put everything they had on the line to fight against independence from Britain.

Not only did many of the Loyalists fight in the British Army, about 19,000 of them joined over 40 Loyalist brigades.

The largest of these brigades was the New Jersey Volunteers, commanded by Cortlandt Skinner.

When the colonists forced the Loyalists out of their homes and off their lands, the refugees made their way to New York City where they would be safe.

It was there in New York that William Franklin, the leader of the Board of Associated Loyalists, organized military operations against the Patriots.

Supporting the crown came with a lot of risk and danger for the Loyalists. Not only were their lands and homes taken from them, they were hated and abused by the colonists.

As well, many of the Loyalists were banished from the colonies while many of them were imprisoned. Some even faced death for not showing their support to the Patriots.

Even after all they had suffered, after the American Revolution was over, only about 4,118 Loyalists asked for any recompense from the Royal Claims Commission.

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After the Revolution

After the Revolution was over 100,000 Loyalists left America to either return home to England or to live in new British settlements in Canada. A few relocated to the Bahamas, such as the Abaco Islands.

This included Benjamin Franklin’s son William, who unlike his father who was a Patriot was a Loyalist, and Singleton Copley, one the greatest American painters during the Revolution.

Some Loyalists eventually returned to America but weren’t well received. Many state governments refused to let Loyalists run for public office.

Years after the Revolution the Loyalists were all but forgotten in America, expect for Singleton Copley who Americans liked to call their own.

Many Native Americans left the colonies as well, choosing to move north up into Canada.

For instance, the Iroquois, led by Joseph Brant Thayendenegea, landed at Six Nations of the Grand River, which would eventually become the biggest First Nations Reserve in Canada.

As mentioned previously, the role the Loyalists played in the Revolution has been all but forgotten in American history.

Perhaps historians are only concerned with the fact the 13 colonies fought and won independence from the crown.

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