Loyalists and Loyalism in the American Revolution

Ohio State History Teaching Institute ^

[GoldenState_Rose]

Loyalists, those colonists that affirmed Britain’s authority over the colonies, were described at the time as "persons inimical to the liberties of America." In the republican ideology of the new nation, tories were vilified as offenders against the public good who acted out of ignorance, cupidity, or moral obtuseness. But if the political complexion between 1775 and 1783 is accurately described as equally divided among patriots, loyalists, and those diffident or disaffected, understanding loyalism is essential to unlocking the puzzle of revolutionary America. Between 60,000 and 80,000 Americans chose to go into exile after 1783. Among these were many of the ablest and wealthiest men in colonial life, but the group also included ordinary men and women, as well as a thousand black loyalists who eventually settled in Sierra Leone. In a tri-racial society, Native Americans were also forced to choose sides. Indeed, loyalists were not an identifiable segment of the wartime population. Outside the British-controlled garrison towns, loyalism was often fluid, especially in the back country. Where the patriot army was weak, citizens could afford to be loyalist or neutral, but changes in military power also made loyalism precarious. Anglicans were more likely to be loyalists, but pietist sects such as the Mennonites, Dunkers, and Brethren also faced difficult political and religious dilemmas, as did the Quakers. As recent arrivals in America, John Wesley’s Methodists were more likely to hold loyalist sympathies. These factors made the war at times partisan, civil, or revolutionary in character. More than simply the losers in the war, loyalists were the obverse of the new nation’s ideology without which the Revolution is incompletely understood.

[DoodleBob]

As I've written elsewhere on this topic, by most accounts, at the time of the Revolution, 20% were Loyalists, 33-45% were Patriots, and the rest were ballast.

If you replace Loyalist with statist, and Patriots with Deplorables, we are right where we started. This OSU posting strikes me as an attempt to prop up globalism and Antifa etc. by making them the heirs of the Loyalist class.

As noted elsewhere, Liberals/Loyalists have made politics their religion...What they really want is liberal Sharia law, a secular theocracy....for them, politics is the means to secular salvation. The minimum wage, gender equality, nationalized health care, and global warming—whatever their practical virtues—are not just expedient policy prescriptions. They are essential aspects of the liberal fatwa...Question them and you are not just wrong—you are a heretic.

Read through the OSU piece and you'll see the linkages between Loyalists and the current left. Problem for them is...they're on the run. I haven't seen fear in the Loyalists (read: media, swamp critters etc.) like this since Reagan fired PATCO.

Therefore...Let us celebrate, fellow Deplorables. Let not our faces be long with #NeverTrumpism or CNN or Antifa denizens or talk of breaking up the country. We are on the ascent.

Our President - a billionaire from Queens - is more like us than any other guy we've had in a LONG time. The future of our Nation - nay, civilization - where we'll always have 20% of the citizenry being chronic whiners, is bright again.

[AdvisorB]

BUMP….

[familyop]

Well said. Let’s be Americans.

[sauropod]

bkmk

[Whenifhow]

Of possible interest to your ping list

[NonValueAdded]

The RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list.

American Revolution ping, hat tip to Whenifhow

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Recessional of the Sons of the American Revolution:

“Until we meet again, let us remember our obligations to our
forefathers who gave us our Constitution, the Bill of Rights,
an independent Supreme Court and a nation of free men.”

Dr. Benjamin Franklin, when asked if we had a republic or a monarchy, replied "A Republic, if you can keep it."
Can we???

[bert]

All the blue states are currently populated and controlled by Loyalists. The current Loyalists are not American but essentially European. These Neoeuropeans have no original ideas beyond looking to Europe for guidance on how to structure a government and nation.

Blue State loyalists can be grouped generally as Ameritrash

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

The situation was so different, I don’t really see much of a parallel between the loyalists of old and modern liberals.

[Bigg Red]

Well said!

MAGA

[DoodleBob]

The situation was so different, I don’t really see much of a parallel between the loyalists of old and modern liberals.

The Loyalists are painted in this OSU page as being unfairly vilified by the winners, pro-black, and aligned to Native Americans....that is, akin to modern day "progressives." To wit:

Between 60,000 and 80,000 Americans chose to go into exile after 1783. Among these were many of the ablest and wealthiest men in colonial life, but the group also included ordinary men and women, as well as a thousand black loyalists who eventually settled in Sierra Leone. In a tri-racial society, Native Americans were also forced to choose sides.

I've copied a resident professor of History if he'd care to opine about the approach and accuracy of the OSU items.