Did you know that:
- those loyal to the Crown were called Loyalists, Tories, Royalists or
King’s Men and those opposed to the Crown were called Rebels, Patriots and
Whigs?
- plenty of evidence exists to show that the percentage
of colonists opposed to the rebellion against the Crown was possibly as high as
40%, and if Indians and blacks were added that the percentage of those in the
colonies, opposed would near 65%?
- those opposed to the war were mainly Christians/Bible
believers (i.e. Anglicans, Moravians, Ana-Baptists, German Baptists, Quakers,
Mennonites), whereas those for the war were mainly non-Christian,
non-judgmental sects [i.e. Deists (i.e. Ben Franklin, possibly George Washington) and a liberal form of
Presbyterianism]?
- Loyalists, for simply holding to their political
beliefs and not for any wrong acts, were commonly mistreated by the Rebels?
Mistreatment occurred in the forms of Loyalist homes and themselves being
attacked by mobs or property confiscated; homes ransacked and personal
belongings stolen; Loyalist printing presses being destroyed for printing
Loyalist pamphlets; railings*; tar and featherings**; being hoisted up a “liberty
pole” with a dead animal on it; being forced to ride with one’s head at a horse’s
tail and coat turned inside out; forced sitting on lumps of coal; being placed
in the stockades and other humiliations; whippings; ears being cropped; blackmail
and threatenings; imprisonments; forced disarmament; excommunication from
districts; and even being murdered, to name a few?
* A “railing” involved
placing an individual on two sharp rails - one leg on each - with each rail
being carried on the shoulders of two men. One such Loyalist who was railed was
a Connecticut farmer (Seth Seeley) who in 1776 was punished in this fashion for
signing a declaration supporting the King’s laws. He was “railed” through the
streets, put in stocks, smeared with eggs, and robbed of his money.
** The tarring and feathering
of an individual involved tar being heated up and poured on the head,
shoulders, chest and back of a naked individual. The victim would be covered in
feathers, placed in a cart, and paraded around the streets.
- although this was previously reported, the Boston
Massacre was instigated by the Rebels and that future American president, John
Adams, defended the British troops and basically won his case?
- that General,
George Washington approved mob persecution of the Loyalists? Upon meeting
a procession of the Sons of Liberty humiliating Loyalists who have been “railed”, Washington
reprimanded a general of his, Israel Putnam, for attempting to halt this procession
by saying to him, “…to discourage such proceedings was to injure the cause of
liberty in which they were engaged, and that nobody would attempt it but an
enemy of his country."
- Thomas
Hutchinson, the Lieutenant (Acting) Governor of Massachusetts, attempted to
enforce the Stamp Act of 1770 and had his home and library destroyed by a mob
which included Samuel Adams? Hutchinson had his doors axed in, his furniture
destroyed, money and jewelry stolen, and walls and roof dismantled. His family
barely escaped with their lives.
- Test Laws were enacted after the signing of the Declaration of Independence which required colonists to swear allegiance to the state in which they lived and promising not to aid or abet the British troops? Records were kept of those who took the oath. A certificate of taking the oath was issued to the colonists to prevent them from being arrested. Those caught without a certificate would be considered an outlaw and not even have the right of a foreigner in the courts of law; had no legal redress to obtain money owed to them by their neighbor; could leave an orphaned child to a friend or relative for guardianship; could not be the administrator or executor of an estate; could often be denied to practice their law or medical or other professional degree; could possibly have property taken, be imprisoned or even killed?
- that after the Test Laws were passed other laws were passed in states which included prominent Loyalists exiled (9 states), and in most states Loyalists expelled from all offices or professions and forced to pay double or more taxes?
- that between 1780
and 1781 the Province of New York required colonists to turn in the names of
Loyalists or face being imprisoned? (Sounds like what I learned today in Obama requiring federal workers to report suspicious activity by other federal workers or face fines or imprisonment.)
- that in spite of
the Treaty of Paris which officially ended the war in 1783, many Loyalists were
still not treated equally or justly according to Articles within the Treaty? Many still had their property seized and sold. Many did not have their
personal property restored or debts owed to them repaid.
- that many Indians and blacks also left the colonies during
or after the war, one reason being the unfair treatment by the Rebels?
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