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Loyalists were colonists in the Thirteen Colonies who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution, often referred to as Tories, [1] [2] Royalists, or King's Men at the time. They were opposed by the Patriots or Whigs, who supported the revolution and considered them "persons inimical to the liberties of America."
Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World (2012) excerpt and text search; Thomas B. Allen. Tories: Fighting for the King in America's First Civil War (2011) excerpt and text search; Ronald Rees, Land of the Loyalists: Their struggle to shape the Maritimes, Nimbus, 146 p., 2000, ISBN 1-55109-274-3.
Throughout the war, the British repeatedly offered freedom to those slaves who would join their side. One historian has said, "Thousands of blacks fought with the British." [57] One American historian has gone so far as to assert that the British position on black civil rights during the Revolution was morally superior to that of the Patriots. [58]
Tories subjected to hanging and mobbing without trial while others were tarred and feathered. Before and during the American Revolution , the Colonial Tories sustained eminent admiration for the British Crown , Parliament of Great Britain , and unwavering loyalism for Great Britain's King George III .
Abraham Gesner (1756–1851), served with the King's Orange Rangers during the American Revolution; purchased a commission of major in the British Army; Zacharias Gibbs (1736–before 1793), Loyalist militia officer of South Carolina. Veteran of the French & Indian War. Raised to Lieutenant Colonel prior to 1779.
During the American Revolution, these persons became known primarily as Loyalists. Afterward, some 15% of Loyalists emigrated north to the remaining British territories in the Canadas . There they called themselves the United Empire Loyalists . 85% of the Loyalists decided to stay in the new United States and were granted American citizenship.
Nancy Morgan Hart (c. 1735–1830) was a rebel heroine of the American Revolutionary War, noted for her exploits against Loyalists in the northeast Georgia backcountry.She is characterized as a tough, strong and resourceful frontier woman who repeatedly outsmarted Tory soldiers, and killed some outright.
Perhaps more significantly, his experiences show how deeply the war divided Americans. Cunningham's mass murders of fellow Americans in the fall of 1781 highlight how the Revolutionary War devolved into a civil war between Whigs and Tories despite Britain's surrender at Yorktown earlier that year.