During the American Revolution….or any Revolution in general in History, you’ve gotta be careful which side you choose…as history shows one side can have people who sided with one side as enemies while the other is labeled as heroes.

That seems to be what also happened to The Loyalists, People who remained loyal to the British Empire during the Revolution, hence the name “Loyalist” although they did go by other names with those all being to mock them including the name that I’ve just said and it’s the title topic of this card.
The Patriots are Good….but some of the methods used to get the point across for freedom are Bad, so were some of the Loyalist’s Methods in support of Britain at the time can also be considered also bad…..we can say so much but it’s not gonna change much for us today about how we view Loyalist and Patriot.

So without making the introduction too long, let’s just get into what the History Card in the story of American Cards; The Revolution Category  has to share about The Loyalists.

(Who are The Loyalists?)

The Loyalists were colonists in America during its time as The Thirteen Colonies, who had remained Loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. Also called “Tories”, “Royalists” or “King's Men”, they opposed the Patriots who supported the Revolution…calling them "persons inimical to the liberties of America.”

Some Loyalists would fight for the British Crown and join armies to fight off against Patriots. Others neutral to the conflict would flee to England, Florida or British North America which is now Canada….after the Loyalists were defeated a lot more would flee to escape any further mistreatment and hostility for their support of Great Britain and wanting to remain as British Citizens.

(Colonists Against the War)

One popular myth about the American revolution is that the revolt against tyranny of England supported by almost all of the colonists with the possible exception of such obvious traitors as Benedict Arnold. In actual fact, according to most historians, when the Revolution began at least one-third of American people remained loyal to the British Crown or stayed neutral in the dispute.

Those who supported England were called “loyalists” or Tories, and were identified as supporters of the Tory party in England by the American patriots.
Some of the loyalists left the country when the war against England began. Most remained in America, however, and took the oath of allegiance to the republic---an act required by the patriots on penalty of imprisonment and confiscation of property---but secretly supported the British.

Others took an active role in fighting on the British side. For example, Butler’s Rangers, a regiment of loyalists led by John Butler, fought against the Continental Army throughout New York and Pennsylvania. In all, some 60,000 loyalists fought on the British side during the Revolution.
The ranks of the loyalists included many men from prominent American families. William Franklin, the last royal governor of New Jersey and son of Benjamin Franklin was a Tory.

Others included the mother and half-brother of Gouverneur Morris, a member of the Continental Congress; Count Rumford, a New Hampshire scientist; Thomas Huchinson, governor of Massachusetts, and Joseph Galoway, a Pennsylvania pamphleteer.

Many of these loyalists were large landowners, while others had much to gain by maintaining their links to England.
These included lawyers, merchants, and Indian traders. Still others were poorer folk who simply followed their leaders into opposition, as was the case with Carolina highlanders and New York tenant farmers.

In 1777 the Continental Congress confiscated all loyalist property and tarring and feathering of British sympathizers became a familiar sight in many communities.
As a result of such persecution during the war, about 80,000 loyalists left the U.S permanently, with a half moving north to Canada and the rest to England, where they were often forced to be dependent on the Crown in order to survive.

While the Peace of Paris agreement in 1783 allowed loyalists to return to America and obtain indemnities for their property, few did. They feared for their lives and for good reason.

(Reasons Behind the Loyalist)

Now you can see there were a lot of people who were patriots and a lot of people who were Loyalist, we know a lot of of the reasons behind the motives for the patriot’s acts during the Revolution, they wanted to be free from British Power as The British Empire was taxing them to pay off their debts, the causes of the Tea party and much more were what started the revolution and the Patriots are the people who stand against the british as the cause for all that.

But then you question, what were the reasons behind some of the Loyalists motives for supporting England, when at this time in history, Britain was starting to become an enemy of America with all the information I said above already which caused the war.

We always picture the Loyalists as being part of the bad guys when talking about the American Revolution….
Well you know during my research about Loyalists I’ve been open to the reason behind them and this history card was one of the things that opened me up to the true meaning that people who don’t really look at history or even bothered to look into it at all would even notice the loyalists.

So I’m going to the list down the reasons behind the Loyalists, because it’s become apparent during my study here that; the Loyalists like the Patriots are people, they just didn’t want war and here are 10 reasons for The Loyalists support Great Britain:

One, They felt that rebellion against the Crown—the legitimate government—was morally wrong. They saw themselves as Americans but loyal to the British Empire 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.

Two, 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.

Three, they wanted to take a middle-of-the-road position and were not pleased when forced by Patriots to declare their opposition.

Four, They had business and family links with Britain.

Five, They felt that independence from Britain would come eventually, but wanted it to come about organically.

Six, They were wary that chaos, corruption, and mob rule would come about as a result of revolution.

Seven, 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.

Eight, Black Loyalists were promised freedom from slavery by the British.

Nine, They felt that being a part of the British Empire was crucial in terms of commerce and their business operations.

Ten, 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.

(Ending)

And there you have it, that the history behind The Loyalists….I’ll like to know if anything I said this or what was said in the card which comes from “Colonists Against the War” said anything to you about what the Loyalists were really like. Maybe you got some insight by the reasons in the Bonus entry anyhow that’s all I’m gonna say, I hope you enjoyed learning this and I’ll see you in my other history cards…..bye!