Lecture 2 Loyalist Migration PDF

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Professor Radforth for HIS312 ...

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Lecture 2: The Loyalist Migration - Pre Confederation Who were the Loyalist Migrants + Goals? Pre 1790 •

Included refugees fleeing the Revolutionary War

•

people from the losing side who supported Britain and were now fleeing: o

persecution

o

the loss of jobs, position, and property

•

economic migrants looking for opportunities.

•

the Loyalists (or “United Empire Loyalists”)

1791-1812 •

many more migrants, known misleadingly as the “Late Loyalists” came to UC from the US. o

pursuing economic opportunities

o

freedom from military service.

Causes for Migration •

Military: The American Revolution (1775-1783) triggered a sudden migration from the United States (formerly Britain’s Thirteen Colonies) into Canada (British North America).

•

Social: They were refugees fleeing the Revolutionary War because of:

•

o

harassment by the supporters of the revolution

o

looking for protection form the British authorities in Canada.

Economics: o

•

losers fleeing loss of jobs, position, and property

Loyalist Ideology: o

real or alleged adherence to the crown and empire

o

in Canada they represented themselves as deserving of assistance and privileges from the crown (or British authorities).

BNA response + methods •

The British crown welcomed them into the British colonies.

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•

Crown granted grants lands and positions in Canada

•

Crown established two new colonies, Upper Canada (Ontario) and New Brunswick, where the charter or founding groups were Loyalists.

Loyalist Goals Met/ Impact of Immigration •

Descendants of the Loyalists considered themselves the charter group with superior claims to recognition and status.

•

Monuments celebrated their heroic move north to live under the British crown.

•

After their names as a sign of pride, descendants wrote U.E.L., United Empire Loyalist.

Note on Sources •

the Loyalist migrations are much better documented than earlier movements b/c o

Loyalists took the opportunity to make claims for compensation or lost property - paper trail

o

they told stories about their experiences to persuade authorities to grant them funds.

Who were the Loyalists? •

a diverse population.

•

certainly not “the cream of American society” as the Loyalist myth maintains.

•

include ppl from every class, religious, ethnic and racialized group in the American colonies

•

Most were white families of modest means.

White Loyalists •

Immigration Goals o

o

Political: ▪

Some had pro-British (“Tory”) political convictions

▪

Some had held patronage positions (government appointments), which they lost during the revolution and hoped to regain in Canada

Military: ▪

o

Some served with the British military and, as losers, had to flee with the troops

Social: 2 of 7

▪ o

Some came from vulnerable minorities (religious or ethnic) who were persecuted by neighbours

Economic: ▪

Some sought better land and opportunities

Black Immigrants •

Immigration Causes o

Some white Loyalists brought their Black slaves with them

o

Perhaps 2,500 of the migrants were Black slaves

o

Canada Policy: ▪

In Canada slavery was legal

▪

many of the slaves remained in slavery in Canada for the rest of their lives, even as slavery was gradually phased out for their children

Black Loyalists •

A distinct group of Blacks who arrived not as slaves but as “freemen”

•

Causes for Immigration o

Many of the men, with British authority encouragement, had deserted their white masters, become freemen, and joined units of the British military. ▪

•

Some were able to bring wives and children.

Methods of Immigration o

About 3,000 had their names recorded in “The Book of Negroes” when the British military evacuated New York City in 1783 and brought them to Nova Scotia, promising freedom and assistance (purpose)

Iroquois Loyalists •

WHO: People within the Six Nations Iroquois communities south of Lake Ontario in New York who supported the British

•

GOALS: chose to move north to lands in Canada promised by the British as compensation for wartime support and broken promises of protection

•

Most settled on the Grand River Reserve near Brantford

Wartime Experiences of Loyalists Gender Impact 3 of 7

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Many men joined the provincial forces that supported the British Army ! They fought in battles & bonded with other male soldiers ! they moved under the protection of the Army into Canada at the end of hostilities when discharged

•

Many women were left behind to mind the children and the shop or farm ! Known to their neighbours as families of pro-British soldiers, they were vulnerable to attacks: looting, tar and feathering, and were driven from their homes ! The women often travelled long distances, alone or with small children, to reach secure British forts at Niagara or near Montreal, where they entered refugee camps managed by the British military

BNA Response & Loyalist Goals - met? •

The heroic and harrowing experiences—> Loyalist myths that they used when making their claims in Canada for compensation and privileges from the British authorities

•

British authorities in the colonies granted the Loyalists: o

land, seed, and tools in an effort to assist their settlement and reward their loyalty.

o

The Loyalists believed it was never enough.

Loyalist Settlements in Upper Canada The Loyalists came to various parts of British North America (Canada) and made settlements in many places. Upper Canada (Ontario) •

About 10,000 white refugees (and a few hundred slaves) came to: the Upper St Lawrence River area, the Kingston area, and the Niagara Peninsula

•

A few thousand Mohawk and other Iroquois Loyalists came to the Grand River Valley (near Brantford) where the crown established: ! a large reserve !

& a smaller reserve on the Bay of Quinte (at the eastern end of Lake Ontario)

The Late Loyalists in Upper Canada Goals met via Policy: •

IN 1791 Upper Canada’s lieutenant-governor, John Graves Simcoe invited Americans to settle in Upper Canada enticing them with

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o

200 acre lots for farming

o

Exemption from military service if a member of a pacifist religious group

•

British authorities in UC welcomed them as experienced frontier farmers who would develop the province by farming.

•

Two groups found the offer attractive: o

Poor but experienced farmers from the US fed up with taxes and higher land costs

o

Better-off farmers who were pacifists and tired of harassment from neighbours (who objected to their lack of military involvement in the revolution) and fines paid for non-fulfillment of militia duty

Assessing the Impact of the Loyalists in Upper Canada Late Loyalist Immigration Impact on Settlement & Infrastructure •

•

UC1791-1812 received a large influx of American settlers o

pop in 1791 was about 14,000

o

1811 was about 70,000

Alan Taylor’s article as required reading discusses the Late Loyalists: o

•

Most came from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, crossing through New York and into UC at Niagara

Cities: They settled along Lake Ontario’s north shore, in back of York (Toronto), in the Niagara region, near Brantford, and near London

Loyalist Impact on Infrastructure •

Demographics: A spur to settlement and development, far outnumbering the immigration from Britain at the time

•

Diversity: As refugees, the original Loyalists were more likely than other immigrants to come as families and to include a cross section of people

•

Politics: Some historians have made (hard-to-support) claims that the Loyalists fostered a distinctive English-Canadian political culture that cherished the monarchy and empire, and looked to the state as a protector that fostered well-being

•

Military: o

When Britain and the US went to war in 1812, British authorities in Canada worried that the large proportion of the English-speaking population that was American in origin might support the enemy

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o

They did not, but neither were they enthusiastic supporters of the crown. Rather than enlisting in the British forces, they preferred to tend to their own affairs: their farms and families, leaving politics to authorities and their small circle of supporters.

Loyalists in Nova Scotia & New Brunswick Demographic Impact ●

35,000 Loyalists came to the colony of Nova Scotia, especially to Shelburne, an instant city on the south shore imagined to be the new New York

●

20,000 of them settled in modern Nova Scotia

●

15,000 of them settled in what became New Brunswick, a new colony that Britain created in 1784 to accommodate them

White Loyalist Experience •

Hardships everywhere in “Nova Scarcity”

•

Infrastructure:

•

o

Settlement could not take place until lands were surveyed and lots granted to individuals.

o

That took time, and there were inefficiencies and biases.

Economics o

Food rations provided by the military were often inadequate and late arriving

o

Farms took time to become productive because seed for crops was in short

o

Shelburne soon collapsed and people had to begin again elsewhere

The Black Loyalists & Goals Met or No? •

Their hardships were even greater

•

Government Policy:

•

o

Government officials by policy granted Blacks smaller lots in poorer locations outside Shelburne

o

their lots were often the last to be surveyed

o

Officials hoped to force Blacks into the labour market, where they were expected to provide cheap labour for white employers

Economics: o

Employment was scarce and erratic, and wages were not paid on time 6 of 7

o •

Many Black Loyalists moved in search of work to the Halifax area where they lived in poor conditions on the margins of town

Social/ Political Response + Impact: o

Recruiters for a “back-to-Africa” project in 1792 lured 1,192 Black Loyalists to the British colony of Sierra Leone in west Africa Example: Boston King

o

▪

is a Black Loyalist

▪

unusual in that his autobiography was published during his lifetime.

▪

As a slave in South Carolina, King became a carpenter and a Christian.

▪

He escaped to seek his freedom by assisting the British military.

▪

He married Violet, a Black woman, while in New York City from which both were evacuated and taken to the Shelburne area.

▪

in Shelburne: they suffered greatly for want of food and employment, though King’s carpentry skills saved them.

▪

They joined the move to Sierra Leone, where King became a teacher and a Methodist preacher and missionary.

Others stayed and formed the nucleus of Nova Scotia’s African-Canadian population, which thrives today. ▪

example: The Canadian opera singer Measha Brueggergosman is a descendant of Black Loyalists who came to Shelburne

To conclude: •

The Loyalists were a spur to settlement and development, o

•

far outnumbering the immigration from Britain at the time

As refugees, the original Loyalists were more likely than other immigrants to: o

come as families

o

to include a cross section of people

•

Those Loyalists who were better educated and had ties to the British authorities did especially well in Canada, assuming patronage positions in the colonial administration

•

Infrastructure: The Loyalists laid the foundations especially of New Brunswick and Ontario

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