Loyalist Lessons from the "Unnatural Rebellion"

Unwilling to sanction what they called an “unnatural rebellion,” many loyal British Americans turned away from the violence of the American Revolution. The rebel leaders, they believed, promoted unlawful and unnecessary violence to sever the longstanding ties that connected the colonies to the mother country. Refusing to accept the rebel claims against the British at face value, some mid-Atlantic loyalists hoped to negotiate a return to the British Empire which had, after all, protected their liberties and expanded their commercial connections.

However, the military years of the revolution compelled many loyal colonists to recognize the political limits of non-violence. By 1779, they divided into two camps: hardline loyalists advocated a war of terror against the rebels while moderates feared that militancy would alienate potential supporters. Their polarized understandings about the use of retaliatory violence led to inaction and indecision. Indeed, the contradictory loyalist goals contributed to loyalist disunity during the Revolution.  

After the war, thousands of loyalists migrated to the British Maritimes and they carried with them the lessons of the revolution. This paper seeks to understand how the loyalist experience during the Revolution shaped their understanding of violence.