An overview- Loyalists and Patriots:
Loyalists, also called Tories, were loyal to the British crown for several reasons. They were primarily upper class, lived in cities, and wanted to keep their land and wealth. Many had valuable ties with the British crown and had government jobs. Loyalists believed in peaceful agreement but were met with mistrust and insults because they had no belief in the cause of the Patriots.
Most Patriots controlled the joining of African Americans to their cause, but the British crown had no such worries. The
Proclamation of Dunmore in 1775, named for the governor of Virginia, the Earl of Dunmore, promised freedom to any enslaved man who helped to serve the King and the crown. Within a month after the decree had been issued, as many as 800 populations of formerly enslaved men from Virginia joined the Tories. Tens of thousands more would follow from Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas. Historians have pointed out that the policy was, in fact, the first widespread emancipation of the enslaved in American history.
Loyalists believe about the patriots:
Loyalists who lived in areas that were under control by the patriots were in constant danger from
radical patriots. Many of the loyalists lost their homes and businesses due to the patriots. Many of the loyalists left the country and went back to Britain. Others decided to help the British fight against the patriots. Loyalists were the colonists that felt that a strong British Empire was beneficial for all and that, as British subjects, they must obey the laws of the
British Empire. They did not believe in any cause of the patriots.
