LOYALISTS, or TORIES, in American history, those persons who remained loyal to Great Britain during the Revolutionary War.
The issue of independence divided the American colonies into two parties: Whig and Tory, or Patriot and Loyalist. No contempo rary figures exist which enable the respective numbers of the two parties to be definitely stated. They varied from time to time and from colony to colony. The Loyalists main tained that in the colonies as a whole they were in the majority. On the other hand, John Adams and others of the Patriot party held that the Loyalists constituted only a third of the population, and this estimate seems to be generally accepted by historians. The propor tion varied greatly, however; the Patriots were clearly in the majority in New England and Virginia. In North Carolina the two parties were about evenly divided, in South Carolina the Loyalists were the more numerous, and in Georgia they were much more numerous. In New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dela ware and Maryland the Loyalists were very strong, although probably in the minority. Pennsylvania seems to have had the largest absolute number of Loyalists.
It is probably impossible to draw any de ductions from the distribution of racial ele ments. New England and Virginia, where the Patriots were strongest, were almost exclu sively British in population (about 99 per cent and 94 per cent respectively), but so also was South Carolina, where the Loyalists were in the majority. New York, however, was 16 per cent Dutch, and Pennsylvania was 26 per cent German, and in these States the Loyalists were very strong. The total free population of the
colonies in 1780 is estimated at 2,453,000, and was distributed racially about as follows: British, 91.8 per cent; German, 5.6 per cent; Dutch, 2 per cent; all others, less than 1 per cent.
The Loyalists took in all classes of the population. In New England the more sub stantial and better educated citizens, office hold ers and members of learned professions tended to be Loyalists; others were adventurers who. adhered to England with the hope of gain or official preferment. The Loyalists probably contributed about 60,000 men to the military forces in America.
In all the States severe laws were enforced against the Loyalists, and it is estimated that nearly 200,000 left the country during or at the close of the Revolution. Between 40,000 and 50,000 Loyalists were said to have fled to Can ada and settled mainly in the Maritime Provinces prior to 1786. Confiscation of Loyalist prop erty was resorted to in all the States. In New York alone the sales of confiscated property brought over $3,500,000. Consult Flick, A. C., 'Loyalism in New York during the American Revolution' (New York 1901); Myers, T. B., The Tories or Loyalists in America' (Albany 1882) • Ryerson, E., 'Loyalists of America, 1620-1'816' (1880) ; Sabine, L., 'Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revo lution with an Historical Essay' (2 vols., Bos ton 1864) ; Van Tyne, C. H., The Loyalists in the American Revolution' (New York 1902). See AMERICAN LOYALISTS.