- Over 60,000 loyalists left the colonies and took at least 15,000 slaves with them.
- Upon leaving America, loyalists moved to: Canada, Britain, the Caribbean, India, Australia, Sierra Leon, and India, showing one of the ways in which the Revolution had a global impact. They considered themselves to be British, regardless of where they were living in the Empire.
- Loyalists often found themselves without a real home after leaving America. They were forced to leave their home in America and had difficulty adjusting to life in other parts of the empire, even in Britain, and many found themselves at odds with the government. However, Those who were able to settle into an area, were often able to recover and become successful.
Ex. After being forced to leave America, the Johnston family attempted to make a home in Florida, Scotland, and Jamaica, before finally settling in Nova Scotia.
- The British attempted to provide for loyalists refugees and coordinate evacuations from the colonies. Some refugee camps were unable to care for the huge numbers of people, resulting in sickness and starvation.
- Loyalists soldiers were promised land in British territories in return for their service.
- The Loyalists Claims Commission was set up by Britain to investigate loyalists’ claims and award compensation. The Commission received 3225 claims and awarded £3 million (only 1/3 of claimed losses). Many loyalists were dissatisfied with sum they received.
- The Creek and Cherokee in the Southern colonies felt betrayed and abandoned at the conclusion of he Revolution, when the Spanish gained Florida. The British did maintain friendly relations with the Mohawk in the north. The Mohawk were viewed as more valuable allies, because they were strategically located along the American boarder and boarder of British Canada.
- While some blacks gained freedom through joining the British in the Revolution, many more left the colonies as slaves to loyalists. Slavery was still valuable on plantations in the Caribbean.
Sentences:
Allegiance to Britain resulted in many losses for loyalists; however, they were often able to succeed in their new homes thanks in part to aid from the British government. The treatment and aid provided by the British government to different groups of loyalists was not always sufficient and tended to be based on the value of that particular group as a part of the Empire. The migration of loyalists out of America and into other parts of the British Empire was very much a global movement. While they considered themselves to be British citizens, loyalists did not always agree with the British government. The loyalists view of being British and the governments view of being British did not necessarily coincide.
I think if possible you should try to give a more specific example in your sentences, such as I think you should mention the Native American loyalists. I think there needs to be at least one sentence about them in our work.
ReplyDeleteHow did the British government decide who to aid after the revolution and what kind of aid was it? I wonder if you could expand further on the tense relations between the British government and white loyalists, black loyalists and Native American loyalists during the war and after the war and how they changed.
ReplyDeletethe point about 15,000 loyalist slaves is an important counterpoint to the "British Freedom" narrative of Schama
ReplyDeleteagreed on importance Native Americans- should we consider the Creek and Cherokee as "Loyalists," or allies? It may have much to do with how we see the relationship between Native peoples and European governments.
I like this point: "The treatment and aid provided by the British government to different groups of loyalists was not always sufficient and tended to be based on the value of that particular group as a part of the Empire."
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to see how many loyalists and their slaves went where. Ex. how many went to Jamaica, how many to Sierra Leone, etc.
ReplyDelete