American Loyalists

American Loyalists (United Empire Loyalists or UEL) are those residents of the British North American Colonies who did not join the American Revolution between 1775 and 1783 but remained loyal to the king of England. In the strictest sense, Loyalists are only those who served in a Loyalist military unit in the Thirteen Colonies. The American Loyalists who actually served the Crown must be distinguished from the more numerous "late Loyalists" who came from the United States beginning in about 1790 for land or other economic opportunities. During the war and especially at its close, some Loyalists went to Britain, Jamaica, or other colonies, but many fled to Canada. There is no master list of all the names of American Loyalists who came to Canada.

State Sources

 * David E. Maas, comp. and ed., Divided hearts, Massachusetts loyalists, 1765-1790 : a biographical directory Society of Colonial Wars in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, c1980 FHL 974.4 F2m
 * Robert O. DeMond, The loyalists in North Carolina during the Revolution Baltimore, Maryland : Genealogical Publishing Company, 1979 FHL 975.6 M2dr
 * Robert Stansbury Lambert, South Carolina loyalists in the American Revolution Columbia, South Carolina : University of South Carolina Press, c1987 FHL 975.7 H2Lr

For more information also see:


 * Loyalist Ancestors in the U.S. Revolutionary War
 * Revolutionary War Loyalist Records
 * Canada Military Records
 * Canada Land and Property
 * British Military Records
 * United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada
 * The Loyalist Collection
 * Loyalists in the Maritimes - Ward Chipman Muster Master's Office, 1777-1785
 * Loyalists (Library and Archives Canada)