Loyalists in the
American Revolution

On the eve of the American Revolution, perhaps half of the colonists favored independence, while roughly one-fifth remained committed to Great Britain. Once the fighting began, those loyalists who fought for the crown faced great scrutiny in the newly independent United States. Still, a great number of Americans refused to renounce Great Britain.

Loyalists made their decision for a number of reasons, some ideological, others more practical. The following documents illuminate not only arguments in favor of remaining loyal to the crown but also the experiences of those who made that choice. Joseph Galloway was a delegate to the Continental Congress; his pleas for union and reconciliation reached the ears of the most powerful colonists. Thomas Paine’s popular pro-independence pamphlet Common Sense inspired rebukes from Reverend Charles Inglis and poet Hannah Griffits. The South Carolina slave Boston King sided with Great Britain for altogether different reasons. Those loyalists who did not flee to enemy lines were subjected to a number of persuasive tactics to convert them to the patriot cause. In examining these sources, consider which groups of colonists would have been more likely to support the loyalist argument.