Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots

Loyalists, Fence-sitters, and Patriots

Kelly's Blog

Not all colonists were in favor of the American Revolution. The colonists’ views on the revolution were divided three different ways. Loyalists were colonists who still supported King George and the crown. Hard to believe if you ask me, but loyalists did not take part in the fight for freedom because they remained loyal to Britain throughout the revolution. Patriots were colonists who fought against the British army for freedom, liberty, and independence. These people went against Britain and risked their lives when they decided to rebel. Surprisingly not all colonists shared the beliefs that the patriots did. Some did, but were just too afraid to show it. The colonists who were not patriots nor loyalists were referred to as Fence-sitters. This group is often overlooked, but made up the largest group according to history. With the fence sitters being the largest group, the war also started off as a race to gain popularity. The patriots felt that once they proved they had a chance at the war that they would be able to persuade more people to join their side for the cause of independence. The patriots however had a better cause to get those people who were in the middle to join their cause and in the end they had attracted more support than the British.

Mike’s Blog

At the time of the Revolutionary war not all of America wanted to leave the British rule.  America was separated into factions that consisted of Patriots, Loyalist, and Fence Sitters.  The Patriots consisted of the men in the thirteen colonies that wanted and endorsed a violent rebellion against British rule. The loyalist did not want separation from British rule, and were content with remaining colonies.  The fence sitters remained neutral and did not have a radical opinion on whether to fight for freedom or remain under British control; the current belief is that the fence sitters consisted of a majority of the colonist while only 20% were loyalist to the crown.   It in unknown the percentage of Patriots especially in the beginning of the movement, however it is believed to be smaller than 20% of Americans.

The fence sitters considered themselves to be citizens of Britain, and still saw England as the most profitable market for their goods.  They did not agree with the British rule, however they were unwilling to oppose it.  Loyalist believed the crown was the legitimate government of the people and to resist it was morally wrong.   The Patriots had the opposite view and believed they were citizens of Britain and therefore deserved equal rights as any British citizen in Parliament, but do to taxation and laws passed such as the quartering act, stripped colonist of their unalienable rights as human beings. .  The younger Patriots were more aggressive, and they harassed the loyalist at every opportunity, destroying their property or smearing their name in the newspaper. The loyalist were primarily very wealthy southerners, as they tended to be older and more established than most of the patriots.  The Patriots were the American born and educated, young white males who wanted change, they were from urban areas such as Philadelphia and Boston. While loyalist feared change, the patriots encouraged rapid change and were willing to use mob violence to resolve the issue.  A great example of the patriots using these tactics was the Boston Tea Party in which the colonist dressed as Native Americans and dumped British tea into the Boston Harbor to openly show their contempt and disagreement with the British taxation.  The Patriots used propaganda to spread their word in pamphlets such as "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine.  

The Patriots saw themselves as the voice of freedom for the people, spreading their word to anyone who would listen to them with media. The loyalist were made wealthy and kept wealthy through British trade and even though they did not have representation in Parliament they saw it as not practical for how far away England was from them.  The loyalist relied upon Britain as a main trading partner to manufacture the raw goods grown in America.

The Patriot leaders in the colonies became our founding fathers, drafting our constitution and are Declaration of Independence, the leaders of the Patriots included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Paine and many more.  The Patriots were the party committing treason, and when found by the British it was deemed a death penalty infraction.  The loyalist were those staying loyal and not speaking out about their mother country the main problem was they did not have the protection of the crown, for the red coats did not know if any American could be trusted as we were not viewed as equal citizens to the crown.  The Patriots were willing to shed blood over the cause and believed that America should be a nation founded off of the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.   As the patriots portrayed the British as the enemy committing crimes against the people, they were able to gain a larger and larger following eventually leading to the support of the Revolutionary war.  The Loyalist who remained loyal to the crown fled to other British colonies such as the Caribbean and even Florida to escape persecution by the victorious Americans.