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engraving showing the American treatment of loyalists

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loyalist

United States history

Also known as: Tory

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Mar 11, 2024 • Article History

engraving showing the American treatment of loyalists

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Category: History & Society

Also called:: Tory

Date:: 1775 - 1783

Related People:: Edward Bancroft; Jonathan Boucher; Joseph Galloway; Daniel Dulany; Jonathan Odell

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loyalist, colonist loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution. Loyalists constituted about one-third of the population of the American colonies during that conflict. They were not confined to any particular group or class, but their numbers were strongest among the following groups: officeholders and others who served the British crown and had a vested interest in upholding its authority; Anglican clergymen and their parishioners in the North, who had likewise taken vows of allegiance and obedience to the king; Quakers, members of German religious sects, and other conscientious pacifists; and large landholders, especially in the North, and wealthy merchant ...(100 of 476 words)

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