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Concept
Loyalism
Summary
Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Crown, notably with the loyalists opponents of the American Revolution, and United Empire Loyalists who moved to other colonies in British North America after the revolution.
Loyalist (American Revolution) and Loyalists fighting in the American Revolution
In North America, the term loyalist characterised colonists who rejected the American Revolution in favour of remaining loyal to the king. American loyalists included royal officials, Anglican clergymen, wealthy merchants with ties to London, demobilised British soldiers, and recent arrivals (especially from Scotland), as well as many ordinary colonists who were conservative by nature and/or felt that the protection of Britain was needed. Colonists with loyalist sympathies accounted for an estimated 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the white colonial population of the day, compared with those described as "Patriots", who accounted for about 40–50 per cent of the population and the rest neutrals. This high level of political polarisation leads historians to argue that the American Revolution was as much a civil war as it was a war of independence from the British Crown.
British military strategy during the American Revolution relied on mobilising loyalist soldiers throughout the Thirteen Colonies. Throughout the war, the British military formed over 100 loyalist line regiments whose strength totaled 19,000 of which 9,700 served most at one time. Including militia and marine forces more than 50,000 served. The Patriots used tactics such as property confiscation to suppress loyalism and drive active loyalists away.
After the war, approximately 80–90 per cent of the Loyalists stayed in the new United States, and adapted to the new conditions and changes of a republic.
Official source
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