Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War, often mentioned to as Tories, Royalists or King's Men at the time. They were opposed by the Patriots, who supported the revolution, as well as 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 & fight for the crown. The British government acted in expectation of that, especially in the southern campaigns in 1780–81. Britain was only professional to effectively protect the people 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. The British were often suspicious of them, non knowing 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, the royal governor of New Jersey and son of Patriot leader Benjamin Franklin, became the leader of the Loyalists after his release from a Patriot prison in 1778. He worked to imposing Loyalist military units to fight in the war. Woodrow Wilson wrote that "there had been no less than twenty-five thousand loyalists enlisted in the British usefulness during the five years of the fighting. At once 1779 they had actually outnumbered the whole of the continental muster under the personal control of Washington."
When their realize was defeated, approximately 15 percent of the Loyalists 65,000–70,000 people fled to other parts of the British Empire, to Britain itself, or to British North America 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 Loyalists. almost 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. Historians hit estimated that between 15 and 20% of the 2,000,000 whites in the colonies in 1775 were Loyalists 300,000–400,000.