USA > New York > Loyalism in New York during the American revolution > Part 14
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Two classes of loyalists went to England before 1783- those who went under " stress of double allegiance" to wait for the end of the war as neutrals, and those who went as champions of the royal cause, driven from America for their loyalty.4 Their number is uncertain, and was limited by the
1 Can. Archs. (1888), Haldimand Collection, 732, 734, 742. ? Ibid., 742.
" Greenleaf, Laws of N. Y., i, 26-38.
+ Cf. Wharton, Dip. Corresp. of Am. Rev., i, 317-324.
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inconvenience and expense involved. Certainly not more than two thousand took this course.1 Many returned in want to British North America,? and a few found their way back to the States.
The emigrants to Nova Scotia included not a few of the aristocratic type, but consisted mostly of disbanded lovalist soldiers, farmers, small merchants and traders, lawyers, physicians, clergymen and persons of various trades and of no trades. From and after 1776 small parties of loyalists found their way there." In September, 1782, General Guy Carle- ton wrote to Lieutenant-Governor Hammond at Halifax that 600 wished to embark for Nova Scotia, and that another large company desired to leave in the spring, but that he could send only 300. Prior to 1783, 500 loyalists from New York were residing at Annapolis.+ When terms of peace were concluded the metropolis was crowded with loyalists from all parts of the United States. The British government was under obligation to provide for them. To transplant them in undeveloped parts of the British empire in America seemed to be the best course. General Guy Carleton, who was in command at New York, was alert and active in their behalf. The loyalist historian, Judge Jones, says that 100,000 had left the city when it was finally evacuated, but this num- ber is probably an exaggeration.
1 Haight, Before the Coming of the Loyalists, 16, quotes this : " Sir Guy Carle- ton also sent to England a numerous train of loyalists, who accompanied the fleet."
1 Can. Archs. (1890), 321, July 31, 1793. Judge George Duncan Ludlow said that there were not more than 30 loyalists in London. MS. Transcript . . of Books and Papers of . . American Loyalists, i, 34.
$ Can. Archs. (1894), Massay to Germain, June 27 and Oct. 6, 1776, 351, 354.
" Raymond, The U. E. Loyalists, 35; cf. Can. Archs. (1894), 400, Ham- mond to Lords of Trade, May 9, 1782; ibid., 401, Carleton to Hammond, Oct. 26,1 782; ibid., 402, Parr to Townshend, Jan. 15, 1783; ibid., Parr to Nepeau, Jan. 22, 1783; cf. ibid. (1886), 549, no. 417, and 550, no. 460; cf. Murdock, Hist. of Nova Scotia, iii, 8.
5 Jones, Hist. of N. Y., ii, 260, 504.
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An account of the territory from Annapolis to St. Mary's bay was sent to New York January 14, 1783.1 Plans now began for a grand exodus. The departure was orderly. Advance agents were sent ahead to choose sites and report. The rich formed companies and chartered ships, while the poor, upon application, were transported by the British gov- ernment. There was some difficulty in securing an adequate supply of boats,2 and the newspapers of the day are full of notices of the departure of vessels. By March, 1783, " num- bers of loyalists" arrived at Nova Scotia,3 and land surveys began for them.+ On April 26 a fleet of twenty vessels car- ried 7,000 from New York city,5 and, on May 18, landed them at St. Johns. Men, women, children and servants were in the company. The fleet returned to transport others, and by August 23 Governor Parr wrote that "upwards of 12,000 souls have already arrived from New York," and that as many more were expected.6 By the end of September he estimated that 18,000 had arrived, and stated that 10,000 more were expected from New York. These were located chiefly at Halifax, Annapolis, Cumberland Bay,7 St. John and Port Roseway.8 The St. John settlement was the most numerous.9 On October 4 the governor thought they num-
* 1 This was sent by Amos Botsford and other advance loyalist agents. Murdock, Hist. of Nova Scotia, iii, 13-15.
1 Onderdonk, Queens Co. in Olden Times, 63; Gaine's N. Y. Gazette, Sept. 8, 1783.
Can. Archs. (1894), Letter of March 12, 1783, to Lord President, 404.
" Ibid., 404, Parr to Townshend, May 13, 1783; ibid. (1888), 578.
5 (1894), 404, Parr to Townshend, June 6, 1783; cf. Baird, Hist. of Rye, 265; Can. Archs. (1888), 578, Patterson to Haldimand, May 8, 1783.
6 lbid., (1894), 406, Parr to North, Aug. 23, 1783; ibid. (1888), 578; Mur- doch, Hist. of Nova Scotia, iii, 19.
7 Amherst.
8 Shelburne. Cf. Can. Archs. (1888), 578, Parr to Haldimand, May 20, 1783.
9 Ibid. (1894), 407, Parr to North, Sept. 30, 1783.
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bered 20,000,1 and by December 16 about 30,000.2 From these centers settlements soon spread in all directions-to Guysborough, Stormout, Baddeck, St. Peters, Louisburg and other places. Most of the 3,000 negroes in New York city settled at Shelburne.3
As early as November 30, 1782,4 Prince Edward Island was pointed out as a desirable location, and the landholders there offered to cede one-fourth of their lands to the loyalists.5 By January 10, 1785, however, only 200 had arrived,6 and the number who settled there probably never exceeded 300. Cape Breton seemed to be an attractive place.7 Abraham C. Cuyler asked for a grant there for himself and 500 families, and received it.8 Most of the settlers on that island went, with government aid, from Canada,9 and by the fall of 1784 630 families with 3, 150 individuals were located there.10
Emigration to Nova Scotia continued after the begin- ning of 1784. Within the period of one year, Shelburne grew into a city of 1,400 houses and 12,000 people.11 At the mouth of the St. John a city of between 2,000 and 3,000
1 Can. Archs. (1894), Parr to Nepeau, Oct. 4, 1783.
? Ibid., 409, Parr to Shelburne, Dec. 16, 1783; cf. Kingston and the Loyalists of 1783; cf. Tuttle, Hist. of Dom. of Can., 327.
" Cf. Raymond, The U. E. Loyalists, 32; cf. Can. Archs. (1895), 25, Carleton to Dundas, Dec. 13, 1791; cf. ibid. (1894), 478, 489.
Ibid., (1895), Prince Edward Island, 33. & Ibid., 34, 50, 52.
6 Ibid., 43, cf. Kingsford, Hist. of Canada, vii, 221.
1 Can. Archs. (1894), 405, Parr to North, July 6, 1783.
8 Ibid. (1895), Cape Breton, 1, Feb. 21, March 11, 1785; cf. ibid. (1883), 11I (1885), 286, 310, 311.
9 Ibid. (1886), 448, 450, 452, 453, 64, (1887), 165, 363, (1888), 753, (1890), 144.
10 Ibid. (1885), 286, (1888), 753, 754; cf. Kingsford, Hist. of Canada, vii, 221; cf. Brown, Hist. of the Island of Cape Breton, 391, 392.
11 Can. Archs. (1894), 409, 413, 417.
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houses had sprung up by November 15, 1784.1 Loyalists were settled for 150 miles up the course of that river .? On January 15, 1784, Governor Parr reported the " arrival of a considerable number of refugee families."' In July of that year a body of New York Quakers who had been " plundered and ruined," asked permission to join their brethren.‘ About 300 poverty-stricken loyalists reached Halifax from England in August, and more were then expected.5 In December an officer spoke of the " multitude of loyalists arrived and arriv- ing."6 The few emigrants in 1785 did not materially change the total number. The estimates of the whole number of loyalists who settled in Nova Scotia vary from 28,3477 to 40,000.8 England furnished as many as 33,682 rations, and on November 30, 1785, was still feeding 26,317 refugees.9 On Nov. 24, 1783, Sir Brook Watson, the commissary-gen- eral of New York, reported 29,244 refugees,10 while Governor Parr's estimate was 30,000.11 Counting all loyalists in Nova Scotia proper, New Brunswick, Cape Breton and Prince Edward Island, it must be concluded that not less than 35,000 found new homes in these regions.14 Of these, prob-
1 Can. Archs. (1894), 417, (1895), 2, New Brunswick Papers. 2 Ibid. (1895), 2.
3 Ibid. (1894), 412; ibid. (1888), 579.
. Ibid. (1894), 412, Parr to Sidney, July 24, 1784; ibid., 426, 444.
. Ibid., 422, August 10, 1784; ibid., 423, August 26, 1784; ibid., 424, Sept. I, 1784; cf. Murdock, Hist. of Nova Scotia, iii, 34-35. Of them 41 died. They were destitute of clothes and food.
6 Can. Archs. (1894), 429, Campbell to Sidney, Dec. 29,
1 Ibid. (1884), p. x1, (1895), 36. Col. Robert Morse's description of Nova Scotia.
8 Ibid. (1875), Prince Edward Island Papers, 36, Stuart to Nepeau, May 14, 1784.
9 Ibid. (1894), 438, Campbell to Sidney.
10 Cf. New Brunswick Magazine, i, 96, 101.
11 Can. Archs. (1894), 413, 423, Parr to North, Feb. 4 and Aug. 13, 1784. This was the estimate of Rev. John Breynton in his report to'the Soc. for the Prop. of the Gospel.
13 Cf. Jones, Hist. of N. Y., ii, 507; cf. Murdock, Hist. of Nova Scotia, iii, 23, 34.
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ably 30,000 came from New York, and more than 20,000 were, we may believe, inhabitants of that state.1
With the exception of about 200 families, who went to the Bahama Islands, the remainder of the loyalists of New York removed to Canada. The emigration northward began in 1775 and continued for several years after the war ceased. Seven general routes were taken; first, by the way of the Hudson, Mohawk, Wood Creek, Lake Oneida and the Os- wego to Lake Ontario; ? second, up the Hudson, Mohawk, West Canada Creek and Black River to Sackett's Harbor; third, up the Hudson, across the Mohegan mountains, down the Moose and Black rivers to Sackett's Harbor, or down the Oswegatchie to Ogdensburg; fourth, up the Hudson, over the mountains and down the Racket river to the St. Law- rence; fifth, up the Hudson, down Lake George and Cham- plain and the Sorel to Montreal; sixth, by the way of the Atlantic and the St. Lawrence river; and seventh, across western New York.3 Journeys were often made in the win- ter with sleighs, when whole neighborhoods united for the enterprise." In general three classes of loyalists settled in Canada-the loyal provincial troops, those who were driven from their homes by persecutions during and after the war, and the voluntary exiles. Before July 4, 1776, those who went to Canada were almost entirely of the first class, but after that event refuges of the other two classes found their wav thither.5 With the increased activity of the inquisi-
' Some loyalists left Nova Scotia and went to Canada or to the south. Can. Archs. (1895), 61. Others got large land grants, sold them and returned to the U. S. Ibid. (1894), 418.
" This was a favorite route to Upper Canada. Ryerson, Loyalists in America, ii, 188-189.
3 The U. E. L. Centennial (1884), address by Hon. G. W. Allen, 57-58; Caniff, Hist. of the Prov. of Ontario, 132. This was the common route to Lower Canada.
^ Ibid., 143.
" On Dec. 2, 1776, a party of loyalists reached Quebec, and temporary relief
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torial boards, the passage of harsher laws against traitors, and the surrender of Burgoyne, many loyalists were driven to Canada, while others felt it wisest to go in order to avoid trouble.'
By 1778, counting loyalist troops and men, women and children who were refugees, not less than 3,000 had found their way to Canada .? "Refuges are increasing daily," wrote an official at Quebec on November 1.3 " Helpless friends of government" were on their way to Niagara.4 Until 1783 they were constantly arriving.5 By 1782 they were so numerous that monthly returns were made of them.6 With the treaty of peace came a great rush to the north. On June 4, 1783, Sir Guy Carleton wrote to General Haldimand that " 200 families wish to go to Canada;"' and a month later eight companies of loyalists, organized as militia, had em- barked.8 They intended to settle in the county of Fronte- nac. By the middle of August they reached Quebec.9 Part of them were from Tryon county.10 On August 8 a second company embarked for Canada," and arrived there Septem-
was given. Can. Archs. (1885), 250, 251, Sir Guy Carleton to Gen. Phillips, Nov. 29 and Dec. 2, 1776. All of them took an oath of allegiance. Ibid., 253.
1 Letter of Col. John C. Clark, given in Ryerson, Loyalists in America, ii, 217; Caniff, Hist. of the Prov. of Ontario, 61-67. Also Scraps of Local History, in Ryerson, ii, 224.
" Can. Archs. (1383), 83, (1888), 742, shows that there were 853 loyalists at six places.
$ Ibid. (1886), 404, no. 294.
4 Ibid. (1886), 544, 549, (1883), 56, 113, 203, (1887), 246, 247, 249, 352, 355, 365, 369, 372, 373, 378, 460; ibid. (1888), 619, 627, 685, 687, 688.
6 Ibid. (1883), 83, Oct. 6, 1778. $ Ibid., 365.
1 Ibid. (1887), Haldimand Collection, 535, 563, Carleton to Haldimand from New York, June 4, 1783.
8 Ibid., 534, 563, Carleton to Haldimand, July 4 and 6, August 8.
9 Ibid., 564. Return of Aug. 14 and 16, 1783, at Quebec.
30 Ibid. Return of Aug. 17, at Quebec.
11 Ibid. Carleton to Haldimand, Aug. 8, 1783.
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ber 6.1 On September 8 a third company, under Captain Michael Grass and Captain Van Alstine, with loyalists from Rockland, Orange, Ulster, Westchester, Dutchess and Col- umbia counties, set sail for Upper Canada. They reached Quebec a month later, wintered on the Sorel, and settled on Quinté Bay.2 It was reported that 3,000 more loyalists wished to go to Canada.3 Four families, disappointed in the new region, returned to New York city.4 Alexander White, a former sheriff of Tryon county, led a large party to Upper Canada to settle between Glengarry and Quinté Bay.5 This is a sample of the many small groups of loyalists who went to the Canadian wilderness to carve out homes and begin life anew. The English population in Lower Canada6 in- creased from comparatively few in 1782, to about 20,000 in 1791, and was due very largely to the influx of loyalists.7 In March, 1784, 1,328 " friends of government" were being fed at Quebec.8 On the seigniories of the Sorel, in eight townships at the Long Sault, in five townships at Cataraqui, at Point Mullie in the vicinity of Montreal, Chambly, St. Johns and the Bay of Chaleurs were settled in 1784 5,628 men, women and children.9 Probably there were at that
1 Can. Archs. (1887). Return of Sept. 6, 1783, at Quebec; ibid., Sept. 15.
' Cf. Haight, Coming of the Loyalists, 6; cf. Ryerson, Loyalists in America, ii,
188, 287; Caniff, Hist. of Prov. of Ontario, 132, 422, 449; Can. Archs. (1887), 436.
3 Ibid., 433, Riedesel to Haldimand, June 5, 1783.
4 Ibid., 564, Haldimand to Carleton, Sept. 15, 1783.
5 He advertised his expedition in Gaine's New York Gazette, June 7, 1783, no. 1655. Can. Archs. (1888), 959, Maurer wrote to Mathews, June 17, 1784, " Loy- alists are daily coming in across the lake."
6 The Constitutional Act, 31 George III., chap. 31, made the Ottawa river the boundary between Upper and Lower Canada in 1791.
" Ryerson, Loyalists in America, ii, 287, note.
8 Can. Archs. (1883), 115, (1885), 320, 369, (1888), 744.
9 Ibid. (1891), 4-20, gives a complete list of names and places of settle ment; cf. ibid. (1888), 753, 754, (1883), 115.
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time many more loyalists in Lower Canada, who had as yet made no definite settlement. By 1791 the loyalist popula- tion did not fall far short of 10,000 in the region below Cataraqui.
It is estimated that in 1783 10,000 loyalists reached Upper Canada,' that the next year the population had doubled, and by 1791 was 25,000.2 These numbers are certainly too large. Perhaps 17,000 would be a more reliable estimate for 1791.3 They settled along the entire course of the upper St. Lawrence, the northern shore of Lake Ontario, the west- ern banks of the Niagara river and on the Canadian side of Lake Erie.4 In 1789 there was a "great influx of Ameri- cans" to the fertile regions of upper Canada.5 The "Old United Empire List" and the "Supplementary List," pre- served in the department of crown lands at Toronto give the names of the heads of about 6,000 loyalist families.6 Most of the names are those of soldiers. Including the wives and children of these, together with other loyalists in Canada whose names are not included in the "lists," a total of prob- ably 20,000 would result, of whom perhaps 15,000 were for- merly inhabitants of the empire state.
The period of the dispersion of the loyalists covered the twelve years subsequent to 1775. During that time possibly 60,000 persons of the defeated party went, either from or
1 Ryerson, Loyalists in America, ii, 287, note.
? The United Empire Loyalists' Centennial (1884), 93, address by Hon. J. B. Plumb.
' Pitt gave 10,000 as the population in 1791; cf. The United Empire Loyalists' Centennial (1884), 27, address by Sir Richard Cartwright; ibid., 109, address by William Kirby; cf. Sir Richard Bonnycastle, Canada Before 1837, i, 24-25; Can. Archs. (1890), 236.
" Harris, United Empire Loyalists, 9-10; Can. Archs. (1890), 168.
5 Ibid. (1886), 583, no. 284.
" The United Empire Loyalists' Centennial (1884), 129-333, has the complete "Lists " reprinted; cf. Can. Archs. (1883), 206.
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through New York, to various parts of the British dominions, and of this number about 35,000 had been inhabitants of the former province of New York.
Beyond question New York was the stronghold of loyal- ism, and had more adherents to the British flag than any other state.' Thousands' of the most influential loyalists could be named, because they have left themselves on rec- ord in British army and navy lists, in loyal addresses, in the minutes of inquisitorial boards, in the forfeiture and sale of their property and in petitions to the British government. Still other thousands are known to have been loyalists col- lectively, though not individually. It is impossible, there- fore, to give the exact number of loyalists in New York .?
The loyalist party, as an active organization with a defi- nite part to play, varied in the number of its adherents with the changing scenes of the revolution. In 1775 and the early months of 1776, before the edict of separation had been decreed, at least ninety-five per cent. of the people professed loyalty to the king, empire and British constitu- tion. The remaining five per cent. embraced those ardent republicans who openly advocated independence. The Dec- laration of Independence made loyalty to the king or to the Continental Congress, the issue on which party lines were finally formed. After that great event it was still believed that a majority of the "honest-hearted people in New York" were on the king's side.3
The whigs were wont to believe that the open loyalists alone, whose nature, interests and convictions led them to defiant declarations against the revolution and to action for
1 Am. Archs., 4th ser., iv, 359.
2 Ibid., vi, 789. "The movements of this kind of people . . . are more easy to perceive than describe," wrote Washington to Congress, June 10, 1776.
¿ Can. Archs. (1388), 855. "Cald" to Johnson, Sept. 20, 1776; cf. Moore, Diary of Am. Rev., ii, 449.
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the established government, constituted the party. They formed but a minority, however, and were supplemented by the secret loyalists, who were so timid and cautious that they cither remained as neutral as possible, or else played a false part by professing to support the revolution when at the same time they were acting secretly against it. The loyalists always insisted that they formed a large majority in New York and that an honest vote would prove it. Great Britain believed that the loyalists outnumbered the whigs.1 Gallo- way asserted that " more than four-fifths of the people " pre- ferred a constitutional union with England, and in 1779 he declared that nine-tenths of the colonists would vote for it.2 While these figures are exaggerated, yet the loyalists consti- tuted no small part of the population. From first to last New York city was overwhelmingly tory. Early in 1776 it was reported that all the leading inhabitants were at heart with the crown, and that at least 2,000 of them could be pointed out.3 From the arrival of the British until their evacuation, this city was the center of loyalism in America. Washington declared that most of the people on Long Island were loyal- ists and ready to help the British,4 and it was said that there were only forty-five whigs on Staten Island.5 Southern New York had, it appears, a large majority of loyalists before its occupation by royal troops, and it was but natural that loyalist sentiment should increase during the seven years of British occupation. There was not a single county above
1 Letter in Holt's N. Y. Journal, April 27, 1775; declaration in Rivington's Gazette, March 9, 1775; London letter in ibid., March 16, 1775; Am. Archs., 4th ser., iv, 587, vi, 1338.
' Examination of Joseph Galloway, etc., 12; Galloway, Letters to A Nobleman, etc., 21.
' Am. Archs., 4th ser., iv, 587, vi, 1338.
" Ibid., iv, 1066, 1095, vi, 725, 1324, 1338; Min. of Prov. Cong .; iv, 371; Docs. rel. to N. Y. Col. Hist., viii, 663; Stiles, Hist. of Kings Co., i, 32.
5 Gaines' N. Y. Gazette, Oct. 21, 1776; Docs. rel. to N. Y. Col. Hist., viii, 681.
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New York city that did not have a powerful faction of loyalists within its borders.1 In many localities they actually outnumbered their opponents, and certainly one-third of the inhabitants along the Hudson and Mohawk rivers were of the loyalist political faith. It seems fair to conclude, therefore, after averaging the loyalists of southern New York with those of the regions to the north, that one-half of the pop- ulation upheld the doctrine of loyalism.2 In other words, out of a population of 185,000, 90,000 were loyalists, of whom 35,000 emigrated and 55,000 accepted the inevitable and became valuable members of the new state.
1 Am. Archs., 4th ser., iii, 826, iv, 187, 188, 828, 830, v, 39, vi, 1385, 1415; Dawson, Westchester Co., 83, n. 4, 154; Howell, Hist. of Alb. and Schenect. Cos., 393.
' John Adams thought that New York would have joined the British had not the example of New England and Virginia deterred her. Works of John Adams, x, 63, 110. Judge Thomas Mckean believed that one-third of all the colonists were loyalists, ibid., 87. Alexander Hamilton declared that not half of the people were whigs in 1775, and that one-third still sympathized with the British in 1782, Win- sor, North America, vii, 185, 187. Gouverneur Morris thought that it was doubt- ful whether more than one-half the people of New York " were ever in really hearty and active sympathy with the patriots," Roosevelt, Gouverneur Morris, 36. In 1782 it was still reported that more were for the king than for Congress, Can. Archs. (1888), 925. Sabine concluded that "in New York the whigs were far weaker than their opponents."
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CHAPTER IX
TREATMENT OF THE LOYALISTS BY GREAT BRITAIN
AFTER a losing contest of eight years and a treaty of peace through which 35,000 New York loyalists lost their wealth and homes and were scattered over the remaining parts of the empire, they were forced to throw themselves upon the generosity of the British government. The nature of their claims and the character of imperial compensation remain to be considered.
From the outbreak of the revolution the policy of Great Britain was to use the loyalists to help subdue it. There- fore loyalism was encouraged by fair promises and induce- ments. To the loyal colonial volunteers, who entered the British service in increasing numbers from 1775 to 1783, large tracts of land at the close of the war were offered, in addition to the clothing, rations and pay of regulars.' This promise was faithfully kept. Loyalist officers were well treated, and many a New Yorker secured a good appoint- ment in the royal army or civil service in recognition of merit in the effort to suppress rebellion. Many others were given good pensions 2 or half-pay.3 Loyalists not in military service were promised protection against their rebellious brothers and compensation in case of loss through loyalty. In this way their moral and material assistance was sought in the contest. Hence the governor was ordered "to offer
1 Can. Archs. (1890), 80, Germain to Carleton, Mch. 26, 1777; ibid. 87, 96. (1888), 745, (1883), 75.
2 Ibid. (1886), 432.
$ Ibid., 431; Parl. Reg., vol. 35, 209.
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every encouragement" to loyalists,' and the king's royal commissions proposed " due consideration " for the " merito- rious service" of all who in any way aided in the efforts to quell the insurrection.2
As early as November 18, 1775, the British government ordered the governor of Florida to receive and protect all "friends of government." A proclamation to this effect was printed and publicly circulated in New York city.3 But it was not enforced, because Governor Tryon was able to protect obnoxious loyalists until the arrival of the royal forces in the summer of 1776. New York city, after its occu- pation by the British, became the loyalists' Mecca.4 Thither they went from all parts of the state for protection and suc- cor. They had implicit trust in the power of the British to give them both. To the very last they confidently be- lieved that the revolution would be crushed, and that they would be victors.5 They endured abuse, lost their real and personal property and suffered enforced or voluntary exile all the more easily because they were certain of retribution and ample restitution.
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