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The name United Empire Loyalists is given to those British Loyalists who resettled in British North America and other British Colonies as an act of fealty to King George III after the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War, and as a way to recover fortunes (land and private property) lost under repressive laws enacted by the Continental Congress as a way of financing the revolution. This group of Loyalists settled in the two colonies of Quebec (including the Eastern Townships and modern-day Ontario), where they received land grants of two hundred acres per person, and Nova Scotia (including modern-day New Brunswick). Their arrival marked the beginning of a predominantly English-speaking population in the future Canada west of the Quebec border.

Origins and history

On the American Revolution, a significant proportion of the population of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia and other states was determined to remain loyal to the crown, and desired to remain within the British Empire. The reasons were as varied as the people themselves, but the overriding principle was loyalty to the King.

Loyalists began leaving early in the war when transport was available. An estimated 70,000 Loyalists, approximately 62,000 whites and 8,000 blacks, about 3% of the total American population, left the thirteen states: 46,000 to Canada; 7,000 to Britain and 17,000 to the Caribbean. Beginning in the mid-1780s until the end of the century a small percentage returned from the Caribbean and Nova Scotia.

Following the end of the Revolution and the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, Loyalist soldiers and civilians were evacuated from New York and resettled in other colonies of the British Empire, most notably in the future Canada: the two colonies of Nova Scotia (including modern-day New Brunswick, receiving in total some 32,000 Loyalist refugees) and Quebec (including the Eastern Townships and modern-day Ontario, receiving altogether some 10,000 refugees).

Realizing the importance of some type of consideration, on November 9, 1789, Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec, declared "that it was his Wish to put the mark of Honour upon the Families who had adhered to the Unity of the Empire..." As a result of Dorchester's statement, the printed militia rolls carried the notation:

Those Loyalists who have adhered to the Unity of the Empire, and joined the Royal Standard before the Treaty of Separation in the year 1783, and all their Children and their Descendants by either sex, are to be distinguished by the following Capitals, affixed to their names: U.E. Alluding to their great principle The Unity of the Empire.

Some of the richest and most prominent Loyalists went to Britain to rebuild their careers; and many received pensions. Many Southern Loyalists, taking along their slaves, went to the West Indies and the Bahamas, particularly to the Abaco Islands.

Thousands of Iroquois and other Native Americans were expelled from New York and other states and resettled in Canada. The descendants of one such group of Iroquois, led by Joseph Brant Thayendenegea, settled at Six Nations of the Grand River, the largest First Nations Reserve in Canada. A group of Black Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia but, facing discrimination there, some emigrated again for Sierra Leone.

Many of the Loyalists were forced to abandon substantial amounts of property, and restoration of or compensation for this lost property was a major issue during the negotiation of the Jay Treaty in 1795. More than two centuries later, some of the descendants of Loyalists still assert claim to their ancestors' property in the United States.

Today

Modern-day descendants of those original refugees oftentimes apply the term United Empire Loyalist to themselves, using "UE" as postnominal letters; the honorific is the only hereditary title in Canada. Such everyday practice is rare, even in the original Loyalist strongholds like southeastern Ontario. However, it is used extensively by historians and genealogists.

Theoretically, Lord Dorchester would have only the power to grant these titles to those settling in his jurisdiction, Quebec. He would have had the power to act for the monarchy in this area only. Therefore all use of these honorifics by those settling outside of Quebec would unsupported by law, and would be illegal today.

The influence of the Loyalists on the evolution of Canada remains. Their ties with Britain and their antipathy to the United States provided the strength needed to keep Canada independent and distinct in North America. The Loyalists' basic distrust of republicanism and "mob rule" influenced Canada's gradual "paper-strewn" path to independence. In effect, the new British North American provinces of Upper Canada (the forerunner of Ontario) and New Brunswick were founded as places of refuge for the United Empire Loyalists.

The word "Loyalist" appears frequently in school, street, and business names in loyalist-settled communities such as Belleville, Ontario. The nearby city of Kingston was established as a loyalist stronghold, named in honour of King George III.

List of Loyalist settlements in present-day Canada

18th-century names are listed first, alongside their present-day equivalents.

See also

Further reading

  • Christopher Moore; The Loyalists: Revolution, Exile, Settlement; 1984, ISBN 0771060939.
  • W. Stewart Wallace; The United Empire Loyalists: A Chronicle of the Great Migration; Volume 13 of the "Chronicles of Canada, (32 volumes ); 1914, Toronto.

External links

Social history of Canada | United Empire Loyalists | Monarchy in Canada

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "United Empire Loyalists".

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