Group

Loyalists (American Revolution)

Movement Defunct 1774 CE – 1796 CE

Loyalists are American colonists who remain loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War.

At the time they are often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men.

They are opposed by the Patriots, those who support the revolution and call them "persons inimical to the liberties of America".

Prominent Loyalists repeatedly assure the British government that many thousands of loyalists will spring to arms and fight for the crown.

The British government acts in expectation of this, especially in the southern campaigns in 1780-81.

In practice, the number of loyalists in military service is far lower than expected.

Across the colonies, Patriots watch suspected Loyalists very closely, and will not tolerate any organized Loyalist opposition.

Many outspoken or militarily active loyalists are 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 after his release from a Patriot prison in 1778 becomes the leader of the Loyalists.

He works to build Loyalist military units to fight in the war, but the number of volunteers is much fewer than London has planned on.

When their cause is defeated, about fifteen percent of the Loyalists (sixty-five thousand to seventy-thousand people) flee to other parts of the British Empire, to Britain itself, or to British North America (now Canada).

The southern colonists move mostly to Florida, which has remained loyal to the Crown, and to British Caribbean possessions, often bringing along their slaves.

Northern Loyalists largely migrate to Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

They call themselves United Empire Loyalists.

Most are compensated with Canadian land or British cash distributed through formal claims procedures.

Exiled Loyalists receive £3 million or about thirty-seven percent of their losses from the British government.

Loyalists who stay in the U.S. are generally able to retain their property and become American citizens.

Historians have estimated that between fifteen and twenty percent of the two million whites in the colonies in 1775 were Loyalists, or about three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand men, women and children.

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Moran, J. (n.d.). Loyalists (American Revolution). History Atlas. Retrieved 2 November 2026, from https://www.historyatlas.com/groups/loyalists-american-revolution/

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