The loyalists of America and their times

In Short

Egerton Ryerson’s The Loyalists of America and Their Times is a expansive historical defense of the American Loyalists who maintained allegiance to the British Crown during the American Revolution and subsequently settled British North America. Spanning from the early colonial period through the War of 1812, the book chronicles the political schisms that tore apart the Thirteen Colonies, the severe persecutions suffered by Crown supporters, their ultimate expulsion, and their heroic sacrifices to establish new settlements in Upper and Lower Canada. Ryerson combines political commentary, military operational records, diplomatic despatches, and personal family memoirs to argue that the Loyalists were not treacherous tyrants, but principled, law-abiding patriots. By detailing their resilience through initial winter starvations to their decisive defense of Canadian soil in 1812, the work explains how these exiled communities preserved British constitutional liberty in North America and laid the enduring groundwork for Canadian nationhood.

The Story

The narrative begins long before the outbreak of open hostilities, examining the political, religious, and constitutional foundations of the American colonies. Ryerson outlines how the initial reverence for monarchical institutions and the mother country was systematically eroded. While acknowledging that the British Parliament inflicted unjust and oppressive acts of taxation without representation, he contends that the radical leadership in Massachusetts actively sought independence rather than redress. The rapid shift in public sentiment was accelerated in 1776 by radical pamphleteers like Thomas Paine, whose widely circulated writings converted widespread demands for constitutional rights into an uncompromising hatred of monarchy.

As Congress moved toward the Declaration of Independence, the British government made multiple attempts at reconciliation. Commissions led by Lord Admiral Howe and later five royal commissioners offered to remove all taxes and satisfy every original colonial complaint. However, Congress, having entered into a secret military alliance with France, rejected all British peace overtures without consulting the general population. This foreign alliance shifted the nature of the conflict. Citizens who remained faithful to their oaths of allegiance were subjected to draconian penal laws, widespread confiscation of their property, total loss of civil rights, and violent persecution at the hands of revolutionary committees.

The military campaign unfolded with brutal severity across the continent. Ryerson details the complex operations of the war, including the arrival of French naval and land forces under Rochambeau and the eventual surrender of Earl Cornwallis at Yorktown, which broke the political will of the British Ministry. Throughout the conflict, partisan warfare raged along the frontiers. Ryerson re-examines controversial events like the so-called "Massacre of Wyoming," arguing that American accounts exaggerated Loyalist cruelty while concealing Congress’s own merciless retaliatory campaign, which ordered the complete devastation and exile of the Six Indian Nations.

When peace was concluded in 1783, the treaty contained provisions for the protection and restitution of Loyalist estates, but individual American states blatantly ignored these stipulations. Instead, state legislatures passed sweeping Confiscation Acts to seize Loyalist real estate and personal possessions, forcing over one hundred thousand people to flee their native land. Facing utter ruin, refugees gathered at ports like New York or trekked through uncharted wilderness to reach Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the primeval forests of Upper and Lower Canada.

The narrative shifts to the grueling realities of pioneer resettlement. Granted tracts of forest land by the Crown, families cleared dense bush, built log shelters, and endured severe food shortages. Through harrowing family accounts, the narrative depicts children working barefoot in winter, families surviving on government rations of turnip seed, and half-pay officers building sawmills and gristmills to create functioning rural economies. Despite these immense hardships, these United Empire Loyalists established representative assemblies, secured British constitutional liberties in the Canadas, and built thriving communities.

The final major arc demonstrates the ultimate vindication of the Loyalist cause during the War of 1812. When American forces invaded Canada expecting an easy conquest, the descendants of the Loyalists, alongside British regulars and French-Canadian Voltigeurs, repelled the invasions. From the capture of Detroit under General Brock to the hard-fought battles at Chrystler’s Farm and Lundy’s Lane, Canadian militia displayed fierce loyalty and martial courage. The book concludes as the successful repulse of American invasions secures the political integrity of the Canadian provinces and cements the permanent unity of the British Empire in North America.

How It Unfolds

The fatal rift Parliamentary taxation measures provoke deep outrage across the American colonies, but radical leaders in Massachusetts convert legitimate demands for constitutional rights into an uncompromising drive for total separation from Great Britain.

The ideological shift The publication of Thomas Paine’s radical pamphlet Common Sense rapidly transforms popular reverence for the British monarchy into widespread republican sentiment, fueling the drive toward the Declaration of Independence.

The rejected peace British Royal Commissioners arrive with broad power to abolish all disputed colonial taxes and grant full redress, but Congress, bound by a new secret military alliance with France, refuses all negotiations and demands total British withdrawal.

The tide of persecution State legislatures pass severe penal and confiscation acts against all citizens maintaining allegiance to the Crown, driving thousands of Loyalists from their homes through mob violence, property seizures, and imprisonment.

The frontier violence Brutal irregular warfare engulfs the borderlands, where Loyalist provincial regiments and Indian allies clash with revolutionary forces, culminating in Congress’s scorched-earth campaign that systematically devastates the settlements of the Six Nations.

The ultimate exile Following the British surrender at Yorktown and the peace treaty of 1783, state authorities refuse to restore Loyalist property, compelling over one hundred thousand refugees to evacuate toward British territory in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada.

The wilderness wilderness Arriving in the primeval forests of Upper Canada, Loyalist families clear land by hand, face freezing winters with scarce shoes and clothing, survive on emergency turnip crops, and build initial gristmills and sawmills.

The constitutional foundation Through the Constitutional Act of 1791, Loyalist settlers help secure elected representative assemblies for Upper and Lower Canada, establishing the structural basis for free, self-governing British institutions in the provinces.

The trial of arms The outbreak of the War of 1812 brings repeated American invasions, but Loyalist militia stand shoulder to shoulder with British regulars and French-Canadian units to defend their new homeland.

The decisive defense Crucial military victories at Detroit, Chrystler’s Farm, and the bloody battle of Lundy’s Lane permanently turn back the invading armies, preserving Canadian independence and securing the Loyalist legacy.

The People

• Egerton Ryerson: The author and narrator, a prominent Canadian educator and descendant of a Loyalist captain. He seeks to rescue the reputation of the Loyalist founders from American historical defamation and showcase their moral courage.
• Thomas Paine: An English-born staymaker and pamphleteer whose 1776 publication Common Sense single-handedly accelerates the revolutionary shift from protesting British taxes to demanding the absolute destruction of monarchical rule.
• George Washington: The Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. He maintains rigorous strategic focus, coordinates with French naval and land forces, and advocates for using Native American scouts while sternly refusing peace talks with Royal Commissioners.
• Lord North: The British Prime Minister whose administration passes oppressive colonial measures, but who later introduces sweeping conciliatory bills to grant all American demands before resigning as his cabinet collapses under parliamentary pressure.
• General Isaac Brock: The energetic British military commander and administrator in Upper Canada. He inspires the local population, allies with Native forces, and secures a dramatic early victory by capturing Detroit.
• Captain Samuel Ryerse: A Loyalist officer who raises troops for the 4th Battalion New Jersey Volunteers, loses his American property, re-establishes his family in New Brunswick and Canada, and builds a vital frontier mill at Long Point.
• Peter Bowman: A young Loyalist child who hauls firewood barefoot through Canadian snows to keep his sick mother alive after their New York farm is plundered, later joining Butler's Rangers as a soldier.
• Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison: The British officer who commands a small mixed force of 800 regulars and militia at Chrystler's Farm, skillfully defeating an invading American army four times its size.

In Its Own Voice

When British peace commissioners attempted to negotiate an end to the War of Independence in 1778, American revolutionary leadership refused to open any dialogue without absolute British submission:

The Congress, on their part, had put forth a resolution declining even to hold any conference with the Commissioners unless, as a preliminary, they should either withdraw the fleets and armies, or else, in express terms, acknowledge the independence of the United States.

In personal memoirs incorporated into the text, descendants of early refugees recall the immense physical deprivation suffered by children during their escape to British garrisons:

They brought in five families: the Nellises, Secords, Youngs, Bucks, and our own family (Bowman), five women and thirty-one children, and only one pair of shoes among them all.

Describing the ideological commitment that drove Canadian settlers to repel American armies in 1812, the author characterizes their motivating principle:

the fire that burned in the hearts of the latter, and animated them to deeds of death or freedom, was the sacred love of hearth home, the patriotic love of liberty, and that hallowed principle of loyalty to truth, and law, and liberty combined...

What It's Really About

Beneath its detailed military accounts and parliamentary transcriptions, the book is a passionate defense of political loyalty and constitutional conservatism. It confronts the dominant narrative of the American Revolution by questioning whether armed rebellion was a justified response to parliamentary overreach. Ryerson argues that political grievances could have been resolved within the framework of the British constitution, pointing to the liberal peace terms offered by Britain in 1778 as proof that independence was driven by radical agitation and foreign alliance rather than absolute necessity.

The work explores the nature of true patriotism, contrasting the revolutionary pursuit of liberty—which Ryerson views as ending in mob violence, confiscation, and exile—with the Loyalist devotion to law, order, and hereditary monarchy. It examines the human cost of political upheaval, showing how ideological conflicts ruin ordinary families and force entire populations into exile. Ultimately, the book asserts that Canada’s distinct political identity was forged in this crucible of exile and defense, creating a society deeply committed to evolutionary constitutional progress rather than revolutionary rupture.

Why Read It Today

This work offers a valuable alternative perspective for anyone interested in early American and Canadian history. While standard histories of the American Revolution focus almost exclusively on the triumphant Patriots, Ryerson gives voice to the vanquished third of the colonial population who chose loyalty to the Crown over armed rebellion. Reading this account provides a necessary counterweight to traditional national narratives, illustrating how one nation's revolutionary heroes were experienced as lawless oppressors by their immediate neighbors.

The book is particularly absorbing when it moves away from high-level parliamentary debates and dives into primary historical sources, family papers, and local accounts. The firsthand recollections of early life in the Canadian wilderness—where pioneer families cleared primeval forests, fought off starvation with turnip crops, and built gristmills on frozen rivers—have an authentic, human warmth that brings the frontier to life.

Readers should be prepared for a 19th-century prose style that is detailed, formal, and unabashedly partisan. As a proud descendant of United Empire Loyalists, Ryerson writes with an explicit moral purpose, and his prose frequently reflects the strong British imperial patriotism of late-Victorian Canada. He makes no effort to be neutral, routinely criticizing radical American leaders while praising Loyalist steadfastness. The text also incorporates lengthy blockA bitter civil war split the British Empire, casting out those who held to their original allegiance. Driven into exile, these displaced subjects laid the foundation for a new northern nation.

In Short

Egerton Ryerson’s The Loyalists of America and their Times is a monumental history that reclaims the narrative of the American Revolution and the War of 1812 from the perspective of the United Empire Loyalists. Ryerson traces the roots of the Loyalist population from the early seventeenth-century settlements through the tumultuous trials of the Revolutionary War, their harrowing expulsion from the newly formed United States, and their subsequent resettlement in the wilderness of Canada. The work serves both as an exhaustive political chronicle and an impassioned defense of a population routinely demonized by American historians. By examining official parliamentary records, military dispatches, personal memoirs, and family letters, Ryerson demonstrates how these exiled citizens sacrificed their property and homes to maintain their allegiance to the Crown, ultimately establishing the constitutional foundation and democratic institutions of modern Canada.

The Story

Ryerson begins his narrative long before the outbreak of open hostilities, establishing the deep-seated political and religious traditions that shaped the American colonies. He argues that while the colonists originally held a profound reverence for monarchical institutions and their mother country, a radical shift was manufactured in the mid-eighteenth century. He points to the influence of vitriolic political agitators—most notably Thomas Paine, whose pamphlet Common Sense stirred popular resentment—and the increasingly short-sighted policies of Lord North’s administration in Great Britain. Despite these growing tensions, a vast proportion of the colonial population remained deeply devoted to British connection and sought reconciliation rather than separation.

When Congress declared independence in 1776, it effectively severed the ties of allegiance without fully consulting the citizenry, plunging the continent into a brutal civil conflict. Ryerson detailedly outlines how British peace commissioners, sent by Parliament with sweeping concessions that granted virtually all of the colonies' original demands, were summarily rejected by a Congress bound by treaty to France. As the war raged, those who remained loyal to the King were subjected to harsh penal laws, systematic disenfranchisement, and violent persecution. State legislatures passed sweeping Confiscation Acts, stripping Loyalists of their lands, homes, and personal property.

The narrative exposes the horrific reality of partisan warfare on the frontier. Ryerson challenges popular American accounts of incidents like the "Massacre of Wyoming," arguing that sensationalized tales of Loyalist and Native American cruelty were weaponized as propaganda. In truth, retaliation by Congressional forces resulted in the total destruction of peaceful Native villages and the systematic starvation of thousands who adhered to the Crown.

With the surrender of Cornwallis and the conclusion of the war, the Loyalists found themselves utterly abandoned in their native land. Refusing to yield their political convictions, tens of thousands endured forced exile. Some sought refuge in Great Britain, where Parliament eventually established commissions to evaluate their losses and offer partial monetary compensation. However, the vast majority chose migration to the wild frontiers of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Upper and Lower Canada.

These refugees faced unimaginable hardship upon their arrival. Arriving with virtually no possessions, families were forced to clear dense primeval forests, construct makeshift shelters, and survive on meager government rations or wild crops like turnips to stave off winter starvation. Ryerson highlights the resilience of these early pioneer communities, detailing how they cleared land, constructed mills, and established agrarian economies based on barter and mutual aid.

Crucially, Ryerson demonstrates that these exiles did not merely survive; they built a new political reality. They petitioned for and secured representative governance, embedding British constitutional principles into the legal fabric of the Canadian provinces. This fierce commitment to their heritage was put to the ultimate test during the War of 1812, when the United States repeatedly launched invasions to annex the Canadian territories.

The final chapters of the story detail the defense of Upper and Lower Canada against overwhelming odds. Canadian militia—comprising English settlers, French-Canadian Voltigeurs, and Indigenous allies—fought side-by-side with British regulars. From the naval skirmishes on Lake Ontario to decisive land engagements at Detroit, Chrysler's Farm, and the bloody battle of Lundy’s Lane, the Loyalist descendants successfully repelled every invading army. By holding the line, they preserved their independence, secured their British ties, and ensured the survival of a distinct, self-governing nation in North America.

How It Unfolds

The seeds of division The account begins by charting the long-standing political relationship between Great Britain and the American colonies, showing how colonial affection for the mother country was gradually undermined by British ministerial blunders and aggressive republican pamphlets like Thomas Paine's Common Sense.

The rejected olive branch British peace commissioners arrive in America offering total redress of colonial grievances and liberal terms of reconciliation, but Congress rejects all negotiations due to its secret military alliance with France.

The fires of persecution As the Revolutionary War escalates, state legislatures enact draconian Confiscation Acts against Loyalists, subjecting citizens who refuse to renounce their allegiance to mob violence, imprisonment, and total loss of property.

The horrors of frontier war Partisan warfare devastates the hinterlands, where sensationalized accounts of Loyalist atrocities are matched by the brutal retaliation of Congressional armies against Loyalist families and their Indigenous allies.

The great exodus Following the British defeat and the peace treaty, thousands of Loyalist refugees are forced to abandon their native homes and embark on ships or trek through the wilderness to seek asylum in the northern forests.

Trials in the primeval forest The exiled families arrive in Canada and the Maritime provinces, facing extreme poverty and harsh winters as they clear dense woodlands, raise emergency crops, and construct homes from scratch.

Forging a new constitution The Loyalists successfully petition the Crown for representative institutions, leading to the Constitutional Act of 1791, which establishes elected assemblies and constitutional government in Upper and Lower Canada.

The ultimate test of loyalty Decades later, the War of 1812 breaks out as American forces invade Canada, forcing the aging Loyalists and their children to take up arms once again.

Victory and preservation Canadian militia and regular troops decisively turn back American invasions at battles like Chrysler’s Farm and Lundy’s Lane, permanently securing Canada's place within the British Empire.

The People

• Egerton Ryerson — The author and narrator, a distinguished Canadian educator and son of a Loyalist officer. He seeks to vindicate the character, principles, and historical legacy of the Loyalists against biased American historical narratives.
• Thomas Paine — An English-born political writer whose 1776 pamphlet Common Sense Ryerson identifies as the primary catalyst for turning the American public away from monarchy and toward violent revolution.
• General George Washington — The commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, depicted as a brilliant military strategist who nevertheless managed a deeply impoverished, despondent army dependent on French military and financial aid.
• Lord North — The British Prime Minister whose administration enacted the oppressive measures that alienated the American colonies, and whose later conciliatory efforts came too late to prevent the disruption of the Empire.
• Captain Samuel Ryerse — A prominent Loyalist officer in the New Jersey Volunteers who raised troops for the Crown, lost his property, and subsequently led his family into the Canadian wilderness to build a new life and establish mills at Long Point.
• Peter Bowman — A young boy whose Loyalist family suffered severe persecution and winter starvation during the Revolution; he later served in Butler's Rangers and settled in Upper Canada.
• Major-General Isaac Brock — The energetic British commander in Upper Canada who galvanized the local militia and captured Detroit, setting a precedent of fierce Canadian resistance at the start of the War of 1812.
• Lieutenant-Colonel Morrison — The British commander who led a small combined force of regulars and militia to a decisive victory against a vastly superior American army at the Battle of Chrysler's Farm.

In Its Own Voice

"This sudden and marvellous revolution in the American mind was produced chiefly by a pamphlet of forty pages, written at the suggestion of two or three leaders of the American revolutionists, over the signature of 'An Englishman.'"

Context: Ryerson explains how public sentiment shifted rapidly from a deep affection for British institutions to an intense desire for political independence.

"The scalplock was an emblem of chivalry. Every warrior shaving his head for battle was careful to leave the lock of defiance upon his crown, as for the bravado, 'Take it if you can.'"

Context: The author provides contemporary observations on Indigenous warfare, countering exaggerated colonial narratives regarding frontier violence during the war.

"The fire that burned in the hearts of the latter, and animated them to deeds of death or freedom, was the sacred love of hearth and home, the patriotic love of liberty, and that hallowed principle of loyalty to truth, and law, and liberty combined..."

Context: Ryerson contrasts the motivations of the American invaders with those of the Canadian militia who defended their borders during the War of 1812.

What It's Really About

At its core, the work is a profound re-examination of political legitimacy, liberty, and historical memory. Ryerson challenges the prevailing nineteen-century narrative that the American Revolution was a simple triumph of liberty over tyranny. Instead, he presents it as a tragic civil war in which a vocal, radical minority coerced a population, shattered a constitutional empire, and persecuted those who held fast to their legal oaths.

The book argues that true freedom does not require the destruction of constitutional order or the adoption of republicanism. Through the experience of the Loyalists, Ryerson asserts that British monarchical governance provides a superior, more stable framework for genuine law, order, and democratic liberty. He frames the Loyalist migration not as a flight of defeated Tories, but as a heroic act of moral conviction. These settlers sacrificed material wealth to preserve their principles, and in doing so, planted the seeds of a distinct Canadian identity based on law, duty, and enduring connection to the mother country.

Why Read It Today

This work remains a vital historical document for anyone seeking to understand the foundational identity of Canada and the complex, untidy realities of the American Revolution. Modern readers accustomed to standard American history will find Ryerson’s perspective eye-opening, as it flips the traditional revolutionary narrative on its head. The text provides a rare, unvarnished look at the immense suffering endured by political dissidents whose voices were largely erased from early American historiography.

While the prose reflects nineteenth-century formal historiography, it is filled with deeply human moments. The narrative gains emotional weight when Ryerson steps back from high political debates to include personal journals, family letters, and eyewitness accounts. Descriptions of bare-footed children dragging firewood through snow, families surviving on handfuls of turnips, and neighbor turning against neighbor offer a poignant, grounded view of pioneer survival and wartime hardship.

Readers should be prepared for a work of massive scope and detail. The text contains extensive block quotes, transcripts of parliamentary debates, legislative acts, and detailed military rosters. Ryerson writes with an explicit agenda to defend his ancestors, and his tone can occasionally verge on partisan defense of British institutions. However, his meticulous reliance on primary sources, official dispatches, and contemporary records makes the book an indispensable resource. It is a compelling read for history enthusiasts, scholars of North America, and anyone interested in the human cost of political revolutions.