Loyalists and Their Role in The War

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Loyalists and Their Role in The War
By Sam, Erich
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The Loyalists were patriotic in the sense that
they were loyal to their mother country. This
loyalty cost them as American patriots stepped up
the hostilities.
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A loyalist is a member of a British political
party, founded in 1689, that was the opposition
party to the Whigs and has been known as the
Conservative Party.
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The favorite intimidation used by Americans
was tar and feathers. This was the process of
pouring hot tar on a victim and then covering him
with feathers.
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The two biggest democratic powers in North
America were the Whigs (Patriots) and the Torys
(Loyalists). No one knows the exact numbers of
these groups but the most wealthy people were
most likely Torys. However one of the
wealthiest, John Hancock , was a patriot.
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Another tactic was the confiscation of Loyalist
property.Most state legislatures made this
practice legal. After the war, the final peace
agreement tried to make state governments
reimburse the dispossessed loyalists. The
government moved slowly and Britain paid 3
million to loyalists.
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The Loyalists didnt take these measures sitting
down, though. In Virginia The Earl of Dunmore put
together an army of Loyalists and freed slaves.
The Earl of Dunmore lead raids against coastal
towns but he was defeated at the Battle of Great
Bridge.
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One of the biggest Loyalists was the Earl of
Dunmore. Dunmore attacked the patriots at a
small fort located at the south side of a
causeway over a swamp near Norfolk. The
Loyalists were shot at by entrenched riflemen
who did heavy damage. Over 100 of Dunmores men
were killed while only one patriot was wounded.
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Much the same thing took place in North Carolina
except the key player was Josiah Martin. He
rallied the Loyalist forces thinking help was on
the way, but it wasnt, and when he met American
soldiers at Moores Creek Bridge the patriots won
taking about 800 captive.
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Not all Loyalists were fighters. James Chalmers
was the Loyalist form of Thomas Paine. He wrote
a pamphlet called Plain Truth. If indignant at
the Doctrine contained in the Pamphlet, entitled
COMMON SENSE I have expressed myself, in the
following Observations, with some ardor I
entreat the Reader to impute my indignation, to
hones zeal against the Authors Insidious
Tenets. -Excerpt from Common Sense
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Loyalists contributed in many ways to their
effort during the Revolutionary war. However,
their impact on the war was short-lived and
ultimately only an annoyance to the patriot
cause.
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Bibliography
1. American Republic To 1877 2.www.vcsc.k12.in.u
s/tcr/liberty 3.www.specialoperations.com/multime
dia/sound.html 4.www.google.com 5.www.u-s-histor
y.com/pages/h568.html