The United Empire Loyalists

   The United Empire Loyalists were war refugees. They had lived in the original Thirteen Colonies along what is now the eastern Seaboard of the United States of America.  The Loyalist experience has its roots in the conflict between France and Great Britain.  With the fall of Montreal in 1760, there was no longer a French threat to the Thirteen Colonies.

But the cost of victory was high and the war with France had drained the British treasury.  The British Parliament felt the Thirteen Colonies must begin to bear a greater part of the costs for the defense of the British Empire in North America.  Colonists were outraged when Britain imposed taxes on imported glass, lead, paint, paper, playing cards, dice and tea.  At the time, the colony still depended on Britain for the supply of these and other products. The colonists were angry at being taxed on imported goods without any say in the matter since they had no representation in the British Parliament.  Matters ultimately came to a head when the colonists demanded the right to govern themselves and Britain refused which prompted the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1776.

Approximately 10 to 15 per cent of the population in the Thirteen Colonies, an estimated 250,000 people, were opposed to the revolution.  Many objected to the taxes on imported products but did not feel it was serious enough to sever ties with Britain.  Since they were united in their loyalty to the British Empire, they became known as United Empire Loyalists.  But they paid dearly for this loyalty when the colonists ultimately won the revolution.  The Loyalists were persecuted, their land and other property was seized and many were driven out of their communities.

The Loyalists were comprised of men, women and children who came from all walks of life including clerks, clergymen, lawyers and labourers, soldiers, college graduates and people who could not even write their own name.  Most were farmers and craftsmen.  Not all were from British stock and those in the migration included such diverse groups as former Black slaves, French Huguenots, Iroquois and recent immigrants from Germany, Holland and Scotland.  They had little in common except their opposition to the revolution.

In 1784, a year after the end of the American Revolution, an estimated 80,000 left the fledgling United States of America.  About half returned to Britain or British holdings in the West Indies while 40,000 headed north to what remained of British North America (Canada).  An estimated 30,000 travelled to the Maritimes and then spread across the country.  Another group, numbering approximately 10,000, settled in what was to become Ontario.  They were granted land along the St. Lawrence River, Bay of Quinte, the Niagara region and where present day Windsor is now located.  The Loyalists constituted the largest influx of white settlers into Canada up to that time.

Issued with meagre supplies by the British government, the Loyalists hacked farms out of the wilderness.  Slowly, settlements were established and these began to be connected by trails and later roads.

An estimated four to six million Canadians, about one fifth of the population, can trace their heritage to a Loyalist ancestor.  Much of Canadian citizen’s traditional loyalty and devotion to law and order can be attributed to the Loyalists.

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