What Happened To Loyalists After The American Revolution?

Analysis – What Happened To Loyalists After The American Revolution?

What happened to the loyalists after the revolution of America’s independence went entirely against their interests.

In fact, living a safe life in the newly born country (USA) became hard for the loyal people.

But why did it happened to them? 

In simple words, it happened because American revolutionaries started harassing them very badly.

Mostly gangs of patriots started attacking, killing them, and robbing their properties.

The revolutionaries started considering them as enemies and stopped differentiating from autocratic British rulers.

Even in the Southern part, they had to fight many battles against patriots, where many loyalists also lost their lives.

These incidents threatened all the security matters of their lives and properties.

Therefore, to get rid out of these security issues, those people started leaving the 13 colonies and moved to various regions of British North America, primarily Canada.

A study shows that around 100,000 loyalists left America after the revolutionary war and settled at various places in Canada; also, some migrated to England, Jamaica, and the African continent.

Why American Revolutionaries Started Harassing Loyalists? 

The loyalists supported the rule of the British Crown in the 13 colonies.

These loyal people were mostly rich.

Under the British administration, these people enjoyed some special privileges.

Such as getting high-ranking jobs, better business opportunities than other colonists, etc.

Because of these reasons, they never wanted the 13 colonies to be free from Great Britain.

When American colonists started revolting against British rule, these people supported the British government to end the rebellion.

Even many loyalists did bear up arms against patriots.

Their support to the British authority and against colonists’ turned them into the enemies of the revolutionaries.

Hence, during and after the revolution time, revolutionaries started harassing and obliging them to leave the newly formed nation, the United States of America.

Were There Any Divisions Within Loyalists?

The loyalists had two divisions.

They were Whites and Blacks.

The White loyalists were mostly rich people, who had been enjoying some special privileges from the British administration for a long time.

Their loyalty was the result of a long-term relationship with the English authority.

But contrary to the White loyalists, Black loyalists had no long-term relationship with the British Crown.

These Black Loyalists mainly were poor people who previously served as slaves to the American slaveholders (mostly patriots).

In 1775, Virginia’s English authority declared a proposal to the slaves; their proposal was if they would leave their masters (patriots) and join the British Royal forces for fighting against them, then the authority would give them independence.

This proposal encouraged around 100,000 Black slaves to run away from plantations and join British forces.

Later, these slaves went popular as ‘Black Loyalists’.

Like the Whites, this group of people was also forced to leave the 13 colonies after the Revolutionary War.

[Did You Know? Virginia’s Governor Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation Was The Proposal Which Encouraged Many Black Slaves To Leave Their Maters & Join British Royal Forces]