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Patriots included a cross-section of the population of the Thirteen Colonies and came from varying backgrounds. Roughly 40 to 45 percent of the White population in the Thirteen Colonies supported the patriots' cause, between 15 and 20 percent supported the Loyalists, and the remainder were neutral or kept a low profile regarding their loyalties ...
The longer the Revolutionary War went on, the more fluid and dynamic the "Patriot" and "Loyalist" categories became; and the larger the population became that did not fit neatly into either camp. [3] It is estimated that between 20 and 45% of the population were somewhere in the middle as "Trimmers' or neutrals who bent with the wind.
The British removed their governors from colonies where the Patriots were in control, but Loyalist civilian government was re-established in coastal Georgia [25] from 1779 to 1782, despite the presence of Patriot forces in the northern part of Georgia. Essentially, the British were only able to maintain power in areas where they had a strong ...
Loyalists are to be contrasted with Patriots, who supported American republicanism. Historians have estimated that during the American Revolution, between 15 and 20 percent of the white population of the colonies, or about 500,000 people, were Loyalists. [1]
The second was a civil war between American Patriots, American Loyalists, and those who preferred to remain neutral. Particularly in the south, many battles were fought between Patriots and Loyalists with no British involvement, leading to divisions that continued after independence was achieved. [270]
Both Loyalists and Patriots were a "mixed lot", [144] [145] but ideological demands always came first. The Patriots viewed independence as a means to gain freedom from British oppression and to reassert their basic rights. Most yeomen farmers, craftsmen, and small merchants joined the Patriot cause to demand more political equality.
It also caused a labor shortage as workers enlisted in the Patriot and Loyalist militaries, ending a decades-long trend of industrial expansion in the Mid-Atlantic. The workforce consisted of both free laborers and slave labor , while indentured servitude had largely fallen out of practice by the time of the American Revolution.
Patriot recruiting was by then outstripping that of the Loyalists, and a major campaign (called the Snow Campaign due to unusually heavy snowfall) involving as many as 5,000 Patriots led by Colonel Richard Richardson succeeded in capturing or driving away most of the Loyalist leadership. Loyalists fled, either to East Florida or to the Cherokee ...