Which colonists were loyalists

Other native communities were divided over which side to support in the war and others wanted to remain neutral. The first American Indian community to sign a treaty with the new United States government was the Lenape.

The only Iroquois tribes to ally with the colonials were the Oneida and Tuscarora. Frontier warfare during the American Revolution was particularly brutal and numerous atrocities were committed by settlers and native tribes alike. Noncombatants suffered greatly during the war. Military expeditions on each side destroyed villages and food supplies to reduce the ability of people to fight, as in the frequent raids by both sides in the Mohawk Valley and western New York. The largest of these expeditions was the Sullivan Expedition of , in which American colonial troops destroyed more than 40 Iroquois villages to neutralize Iroquois raids in upstate New York.

The expedition failed to have the desired effect, as American Indian activity became even more determined. The British made peace with the Americans in the Treaty of Paris , through which they ceded vast American Indian territories to the United States without informing or consulting with the American Indians. The United States initially treated the American Indians, who had fought as allies with the British as a conquered people who had lost their lands.

Although most members of the Iroquois tribes went to Canada with the Loyalists, others tried to stay in New York and western territories to maintain their lands. The state of New York made a separate treaty with Iroquois nations and put up for sale 5 million acres of land that had previously been their territories.

The state established small reservations in western New York for the remnant peoples. Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. The American Revolution: — Search for:. Patriots and Loyalists. The Patriots Patriots were members of the 13 British colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. Learning Objectives Identify characteristics of patriotism during the American Revolution. Key Takeaways Key Points The British policy of salutary neglect, which unofficially condoned self-government of the colonies, fueled the movement for independence.

The Patriot rebellion was based on the political philosophy of republicanism, which entailed a rejection of monarchy and aristocracy and an emphasis on civic virtue. Early Patriots alienated some by resorting to violence against tax collectors and pressuring others to declare a position in the conflict. Sons of Liberty : A political group made up of American Patriots; it originated in the pre-independence North American British colonies.

The Loyalists During the American Revolutionary War, British Loyalists made up approximately 15—20 percent of the population of the 13 colonies.

Key Takeaways Key Points There were several Loyalist strongholds in the 13 colonies, but Loyalist sentiment was never as strong as the British believed. Following the expulsion of royal officials and openly sympathetic Loyalists, British supporters often refrained from voicing their views publicly.

Held by the British for much of the war, New York was a Loyalist stronghold and provided 15, troops to the British. Throughout the war, the British relied on the misguided conviction that a highly activist Loyalist community could be mobilized. Following the expulsion of royal officials, Loyalists supported the British in covert ways. The departure of royal officials, rich merchants, and landed gentry—coupled with the spreading values of republicanism—created a somewhat more egalitarian society in the early Republic.

Not all loyalists were part of the elite. Their numbers also included Ohio Valley farmers, recent non-Anglophone immigrants, African American slaves, and much of the Mohawk Nation. Tories : Members and supporters of the British Conservative Party. Individuals who hold a conservative ideological perspective.

Slavery During the Revolution African American slaves and freedmen fought on both sides of the Revolutionary War; many were promised their freedom in exchange for service. African American slaves also fought alongside British troops after escaping their colonial masters. To avoid this fate, he promised to resign his post as customs official and returned to England. He died in in Great Britain. The pamphlet was written to oppose the work of American Rebel supporter Thomas Paine , "Common Sense," which argued that Great Britain did not have the right to govern America.

Chalmers wrote under the pseudonym " Candidus ", so he wouldn't be found out. Because he was seen to be on both sides of the conflict, he wasn't respected by other British Military commanders. Also, "Plain Truth" did little to quiet the waves of revolution which were already stirring. After the war, Chalmers returned to London where he lived out the rest of his life, continuing to write pamphlets against the works of Paine.

Butler and his regiment were held primarily responsible for the Wyoming Valley Massacre of July, At Wyoming Valley, Butler's Rangers and the Seneca who fought alongside took scalps, and burned 1, houses. His son Walter would go on to do even greater damage at Cherry Valley in November of the same year. After the year, Butler returned to farming in Southern Ontario. He went onto play a large part in the development of that area.

Brant was the most famous American-Indian of his time, and his education and connections allowed him to achieve what he did during his lifetime. He was often blamed for the massacres at Cherry Valley and Wyoming Valley, even though he had been one of the few who tried to stop the attacks from escalating.

These false accusations granted him the nickname "Monster Grant. He died in his home at Lake Ontario in His wife, Lady Johnson, was held hostage by the Colonists in New York for that year to ensure Johnson's "good behavior. At the end of the war, he was forced into permanent exile in Canada. The patriot mob was happy to oblige. They seized Malcolm and dragged him on a sled to King Street, where, instead of pouring the tar over his clothes, they stripped him naked in the freezing January air and applied the hot tar and feathers directly to his skin.

He never returned to Boston, leaving behind a wife and children. There were ardent loyalists outside of big cities like Boston and Philadelphia , too. Brown arrived in Georgia in just as the Revolution was heating up.

Refusing to side with the patriots on boycotting trade with Britain, Brown was badly beaten by the Sons of Liberty and the soles of his feet were nearly burned off. Brown fled to Florida, where he convinced the colonial governor to put him in charge of a regiment of loyalist fighters, who with help from local Indian tribes would ride against the patriots.

Released as part of a prisoner exchange, Brown and many of his rangers eventually settled in the British-ruled Bahamas, where he was elected to the legislature and ran a sugar plantation. Known as Thayendanegea in his native Mohawk language, Joseph Brant was the most famous of the many Native American loyalists. It was Brant who convinced four of the Six Nations to fight for the British in , arguing that the British were more likely to uphold their land agreements with the Indians than the Americans.

Brant then traveled to England, met the King and became a favorite of the British aristocracy, who promised full support of Native American loyalists. Brant returned to the colonies in where he fought alongside the British to retake New York, then led his Indian armies into battle in the Mohawk Valley. After the British surrender, Brant spent his remaining years trying to negotiate treaties with the British, Americans and Canadians to save tribal lands from white settlement.

When the Revolution began, the British shrewdly recruited enslaved people to fight against their American masters. Among them was Boston King, an enslaved man from South Carolina who survived smallpox and capture at sea to escape to safety in British-controlled New York.

King and the other Black Loyalists were settled in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, where they suffered violence and famine, but survived to establish a community. Loyalist preacher Jonathan Boucher dared to baptize and educate formerly enslaved Black people in Virginia and Maryland, which made him controversial from the start. But when he took to his pulpit to oppose patriot firebrands like Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry , he put a target on his back.