Loyalist Migration to British North America during and after the American Revolution
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War between Great Britain and the rebellious Thirteen Colonies began with the battles of Lexington and Concord.
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British commanding general Sir William Howe and his army retreated from Boston and sailed to Halifax with over 1,100 Loyalists (Bothwell 43; Bumsted 223).
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The Second Continental Congress issued a Declaration of Independence. It was signed by representatives of the Thirteen Colonies about a month later, on August 2.
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Requiring land for Loyalist migrants, the British Crown, represented by Quebec governor Frederick Haldimand, signed a treaty with the Mississauga for the purchase of land in the Great Lakes region. This was the first of a number of such agreements that were made between the two groups over the following decades (Bothwell 61; Bumsted 232). They would prove controversial as they were signed on blank documents by Mississauga without authority to negotiate on behalf of the entire group (Barclay).
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The British having surrendered to the rebels, their commander-in-chief Sir Guy Carleton oversaw the evacuation of over 100,000 Loyalists from the British enclaves of St. Augustine, Savannah, Charleston, and finally New York. Some sailed to Nova Scotia, where they received parcels of land to compensate them for that which they had lost. (Bothwell 55, 61; Bumsted 224-225).
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Over 3,000 escaped American slaves, primarily from the southern states, were recorded in a “Book of Negros” and were evacuated to Nova Scotia (Bumsted 227).
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At least 2,000 Iroquois (Six Nations) and their allies moved into British territory, forming two settlements: one along the Grand River under Joseph Brant, and another on the Bay of Quinte under John Deserontyon (Bothwell 56; Bumsted 231-232).
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Colonists who had been loyal to Great Britain during the war and who now found themselves in the new republic migrated north to Nova Scotia and Quebec, especially its western regions, where land was abundant (Wilson; Bothwell 61).
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The Revolutionary War ended with the rebels victorious, made official by the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783.
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Due to the influx of Loyalists, the British government divided the colony of Nova Scotia into three: (mainland) Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, and New Brunswick (Bothwell 60; Bumsted 235). Colonel Thomas Carleton, the brother of Sir Guy Carleton, was appointed the first governor of New Brunswick (Bothwell 62).
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The United States Constitution was created, ratified, and came into force. In 1789, George Washington was elected as the country's first president.
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Governor General Sir Guy Carleton (Lord Dorchester) allowed Loyalists who had joined the Royal Standard and were behind British lines before the signing of the 1783 Treaty of Paris, and their children, to add 'UE' to the end of their names as evidence of their support for the British Empire. In Upper and Lower Canada, Loyalists who met this criteria began to be called “United Empire Loyalists” or UEL (Wilson). Loyalist migrants who did not meet this criteria were considered 'Late Loyalists'.
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A Constitutional Act was passed by the British government on June 10 and came into effect on December 26 which divided the colony of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, each with their own elected assembly (Bothwell 63; Bumsted 235). The Anglophone Loyalists of the Great Lakes region no longer had to share a colony with the largely Francophone population of the St. Lawrence region.
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Almost half of the black Loyalists who had migrated to Nova Scotia, about 1,100 people, chose to re-immigrate to the new British free black colony of Sierra Leone in Africa (Bothwell 60; Bumsted 227).
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Immigrants to Upper Canada from the United States ceased being able to do so with few questions asked and ceased being eligible for government assistance as Loyalists (Bumsted 225).
