American Revolution refugees on their way to
the Canadas during the
American Revolution. Following the end of the
American Revolutionary War and the signing of the
Treaty of Paris in 1783, both Loyalist soldiers and civilians were evacuated from New York City, most heading for Canada. Many Loyalists had already migrated to Canada, especially from New York and northern New England, where violence against them had increased during the war. The Crown-allotted land in Canada was
sometimes allotted according to which Loyalist regiment a man had fought in. This Loyalist resettlement was critical to the development of present-day Ontario, and some 10,000 refugees went to Quebec (including the Eastern Townships and modern-day Ontario). But Nova Scotia (including modern-day New Brunswick) received three times that number: about 35,000–40,000 Loyalist refugees. Many of these loyalist immigrants did not stay in Canada; they eventually returned to the United States. Some families were split in their loyalties during the war years. Many Loyalists in Canada maintained ties with relatives in the United States. They conducted commerce across the border with little regard to British trade laws. In the 1790s, Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe's offer of land and low taxes, which were one-quarter the level of those in the U.S., in exchange for allegiance resulted in the arrival of 30,000 Americans, often referred to as Late Loyalists. By the outbreak of the War of 1812, of the 110,000 inhabitants of Upper Canada, 20,000 were the initial Loyalists, 60,000 were later U.S. immigrants and their descendants, and 30,000 were UK immigrants and their descendants, or immigrants from the
Old Province of Quebec. The later movement of many to Upper Canada suggests that land was the main reason for immigration.
Resettlement , showing a romanticised view of the Loyalists' arrival in New Brunswick. The arrival of the Loyalists after the Revolutionary War led to the division of Canada into the provinces of
Upper Canada (what is now southern
Ontario) and
Lower Canada (today's southern
Quebec). They arrived and were largely settled in groups by
ethnicity and religion. Many soldiers settled with others of the regiments they had served with. The settlers came from every social class and all thirteen colonies, unlike the depiction of them in the Sandham painting which suggests the arrivals were well-dressed upper-class immigrants. Loyalists soon petitioned the government to be allowed to use the British legal system, which they were accustomed to in the American colonies, rather than the French system. Great Britain had maintained the French legal system and allowed freedom of religion after taking over the former French colony with the defeat of France in the
Seven Years' War. With the creation of Upper and Lower Canada, most Loyalists in the west could live under British laws and institutions. The predominantly ethnic French population of Lower Canada, who were still French-speaking, could maintain their familiar French civil law and Catholic religion. The government settled some 3,500
Black Loyalists in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but they faced discrimination and the same inadequate support that all Loyalists experienced. Delays in making land grants, but mostly the willingness of the blacks to under-cut their fellow Loyalists and hire themselves out to the few available jobs at a lower wage aggravated racist tensions in Shelburne. Mobs of white Loyalists attacked Black Loyalists in the
Shelburne Riots in July 1784, Canada's first so-called "race" riot. The government was slow to survey the land of Black Loyalists (which meant they could not settle); it was also discriminatory in granting them smaller, poorer, and more remote lands than those of white settlers; not counting those Loyalists who were resettled in what would become Upper Canada, in general, or around the Bay of Quinte, in specific. This increased their difficulties in becoming established. The majority of Black Loyalists in Canada were refugees from the American South; they suffered from this discrimination and the harsh winters. When Great Britain set up the colony of
Sierra Leone in Africa, nearly 1,300 Black Loyalists emigrated there in 1792 for the promise of self-government. And so 2,200 remained. The Black Loyalists that left established
Freetown in Sierra Leone. Well into the 20th century, together with other early settlers from
Jamaica and slaves liberated from illegal slave ships, and despite vicious attacks from the indigenous peoples that nearly ended the Maroon colony, they and their descendants dominated the culture, economy and government of Sierra Leone. Numerous Loyalists had been forced to abandon substantial amounts of property in the United States. Britain sought restoration or compensation for this lost property from the United States, which was a major issue during the negotiation of the
Jay Treaty in 1795. Negotiations settled on the concept of the United States negotiators "advising" the
U.S. Congress to provide restitution. For the British, this concept carried significant legal weight, far more than it did to the Americans; the U.S. Congress declined to accept the advice.
Slavery '', 1793, an anti-slavery act passed in
Upper Canada. The act was created partially in response to Loyalist refugees who brought slaves with them.
Slave-owning Loyalists from across the former
Thirteen Colonies brought their slaves with them to Canada, as the practice was still
legal there. They took a total of about 2,000 slaves to British North America: 500 in Upper Canada (Ontario), 300 in Lower Canada (Quebec), and 1,200 in the Maritime colonies of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The presence and condition of slaves in the Maritimes would become a particular issue. They constituted a larger portion of the population, but it was not an area of plantation agriculture. The settlers eventually freed many of these slaves. Together with the free Black Loyalists, many chose to go to Sierra Leone in 1792 and following years, seeking a chance for self-government. Meanwhile, the
British Parliament passed the
Settlers in American Colonies Act 1790 (
30 Geo. 3. c. 27) that assured prospective immigrants to Canada that they could retain their slaves as property. In 1793, an anti-slavery law was passed, in the
1st Parliament of Upper Canada. The
Act Against Slavery banned the importation of slaves into the colony, and mandated the
emancipation of all children born henceforth to female slaves upon reaching the age of 25. The Act was partially introduced due to the influx of the number of slaves brought by Loyalist refugees to Upper Canada. The slave trade was
abolished across the British Empire in 1807. The institution of slavery was abolished Empire-wide by 1834 (except in
India, where it was
considered an indigenous institution).
War of 1812 's charge across a frozen river during the
Battle of Ogdensburg. The unit's membership was restricted to Loyalist and British settlers. From 1812 to 1815, the United States and the United Kingdom were engaged in a conflict known as the
War of 1812. On 18 June 1812, US President
James Madison signed the
declaration of war into law, after receiving heavy pressure from the
War Hawks in Congress. By 1812, Upper Canada had been settled mostly by Revolution-era Loyalists from the United States (United Empire Loyalists) and postwar American and British immigrants. The Canadas were thinly populated and only lightly defended by the
British Army and the sedentary units of the
Canadian Militia. American leaders assumed that Canada could be easily overrun, with former president
Thomas Jefferson optimistically describing the potential conquest of Canada as "a matter of marching". Many Loyalist Americans had migrated to Upper Canada after the Revolutionary War. However, there was also a significant number of non-Loyalist American settlers in the area due to the offer of land grants to immigrants. The Americans assumed the latter population would favour the American cause, but they did not. Although the population of Upper Canada included recent settlers from the United States who had no obvious loyalties to the Crown, the American forces found strong opposition from settlers during the War of 1812. A number of loyalists served as
fencibles, provincial regulars, in the
Provincial Marine, or with the sedentary militia. With the successful defence of the Canadian colonies from American invasion, the War of 1812 is seen by Loyalists as a victory. After the war, the British government transported to New Brunswick and settled about 400 of 3,000 former slaves from the United States whom they freed during and after the war. It had fulfilled its promise to them of freedom if they left Patriot slaveholders and fought with the British. Enslaved African Americans risked considerable danger by crossing to British lines to achieve freedom.
Present While the
honorific "United Empire Loyalist" is not part of the official
Canadian honours system, modern-day descendants of Loyalist
refugees may employ it, sometimes using "U.E." as
postnominal letters. The practice, however, is uncommon today, even in original Loyalist strongholds like southeastern Ontario. Historians and genealogists use it extensively as a shorthand for identifying the ancestry of particular families. , in 1883. The influence of the Loyalists on the evolution of Canada remains evident. Their ties with Britain and antipathy to the United States provided the strength needed to keep Canada independent and distinct in North America. The Loyalists' basic distrust of
republicanism and "
mob rule" influenced Canada's gradual, "paper-strewn" path to independence. The new British North American provinces of
Upper Canada (the forerunner of Ontario) and
New Brunswick were created as places of refuge for the United Empire Loyalists. The mottoes of the two provinces reflect this history: Ontario's, also found on its coat of arms, is
Ut incepit fidelis sic permanet ("Loyal she began, loyal she remains"); New Brunswick's,
Spem Reduxit ("Hope restored"). The word "Loyalist" appears frequently in school, street, and business names in such Loyalist-settled communities as
Belleville, Ontario. The nearby city of
Kingston, established as a Loyalist stronghold, was named in honour of
King George III. And on the outskirts of that city is a
township simply named "
Loyalist". Canada's
2021 Census estimates a population of 10,015 who identify as having United Empire Loyalist origins, based on a 25% sample. Some historians estimate that there are at least four to six million Canadians living today (about one in five) who are descended from a Loyalist ancestor. On 1 July 1934,
Royal Mail Canada issued "United Empire Loyalists, 1776–1784" designed by Robert Bruce McCracken based on
Sydney March's sculpture
United Empire Loyalists. In 1996, Canadian politicians
Peter Milliken (a descendant of American Loyalists) and
John Godfrey sponsored the
Godfrey–Milliken Bill, which would have entitled Loyalist descendants to reclaim ancestral property in the United States which had been confiscated during the
American Revolution. The bill, which did not pass the
House of Commons, was intended primarily as a satirical response to the contemporaneous American
Helms–Burton Act. on UEL Day In 1997, the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed a bill declaring 19 June, "United Empire Loyalist Day" in
Ontario. United Empire Loyalist Day is also celebrated on the same day in
Saskatchewan, on 18 May in
New Brunswick and on 22 July in
British Columbia. ==Memory and historiography==