Although, there are no accurate numbers of how many American colonists remained “loyal“ to the British during the American Revolution, it is indisputable that support for the war was far from universal. John Adams is quoted as saying that a “full one third were adverse to the Revolution … an opposite one third conceived a hatred of the English … the middle one third … were rather luke-warm.” (Adams, 110)

Due to these opposing forces within the colonies, the American “Revolution” could be more accurately described as a civil war, pitting neighbor against neighbor in a brutal struggle to define the economy and politics of new nation. Even after the war, it to

In fact, much of America’s victory can be contributed to the rebel control over the loyalists. America’s victory in the Revolutionary War was merely the logical culmination of the protests against British rule.

Loyalists viewed “Common Sense” as meaningless propaganda. These were people who were content with their simple lives, people whose religion preached pacifism, those who did not want to see their homes, families and lands ravaged by war, and those who felt that the colonial armies where not strong enough to defeat the British and did not want there land and possessions confiscated. There are countless stories told of fathers who would have one son in one army and another in the opposing camp in an effort to play both sides and keep his property no matter what the outcome of the war. (Raphael, 149)

There are no accurate numbers of how many American colonists remained “loyal“ to the British during the American Revolution. Paul Smith estimated that about 19,000 men actually fought with the British against the rebels and about 20 percent of white Americans could be classified as loyalists. (Smith, 269)

A common stereotype was that all Tories where flag-waving British supporters. In actuality, most peoples’ views on the revolution where fueled by self-interest and survival. Loyalists came from different backgrounds, both economically and ethnically. Small farmers often chose not to take up arms with the rebels in fear of persecution from Britain and the lose of their land should the rebels lose the war. Some slaves became loyalists with the promise of freedom when the fighting was over. Maritime workers didn’t want a disruption in trade. Fur traders did not want to compete for land with expanding farms. There were some whose religious beliefs prevented them from fighting or being violent in any way.

The weakening of the loyalist support proved to be a major downfall for the British armies. England had expected loyalists within the colonies to help supply the British troops. Consequently, as rebel militias fought hard to drive loyalists out of the colonies, the growth of a strong loyalist party had been successfully prevented. By 1782, most loyalists have been driven out of rebel colonies and behind British lines. This elimination of colonist support proved to be a major collapse for the English, Britain, lacking loyalist support in the colonies, political and financial support in Britain, and additional military support from European allies, was forced to rely on weak supply line

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