Loyalists were colonists in the Thirteen Colonies of British America who remained loyal to the British crown. Historians have estimated that between 15% and 33% of the population of the colonies were Loyalists. A 2000 researcher suggested between 15% and 20% of the 2,000,000 whites in the colonies in 1775 were Loyalists, while approximately half the population avoided involvement and Patriots composed only 40 to 45 percent. The revolutionaries labelled themselves "Patriots" and portrayed Loyalists as "persons inimical to the liberties of America." Self-appointed Patriot committees of correspondence, inspection and safety published lists of suspected Loyalists and, in campaigns of terror, Patriots demonized, harassed, intimidated, burnt-out, dispossessed, raped and murdered those they claimed to be Loyalists to suppress opposition, sometimes based on little more than personal grudges or against business competitors.
- Country
- Kingdom of Great Britain
