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ORIGINS AND HISTORY In the American Revolution, a significant proportion of the population of New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia and other states was determined to remain loyal to the crown, and desired to remain within the British Empire. The reasons were as varied as the people themselves, but the overriding principle was loyalty to the King. Loyalists began leaving early in the war when transport was available. An estimated 70,000 Loyalists, approximately 62,000 whites and 8,000 blacks, about 3% of the total American population, left the thirteen states: 46,000 to Canada; 7,000 to Britain and 17,000 to the Caribbean. Beginning in the mid-1780s until the end of the century a small percentage returned from the Caribbean and Nova Scotia. Following the end of the Revolution and the signing of the Treaty Of Paris in 1783, Loyalist soldiers and civilians were evacuated from New York and resettled in other Colonies of the British Empire , most notably in the future Canada: the two colonies of Nova Scotia (including modern-day New Brunswick, receiving in total some 32,000 Loyalist refugees) and Quebec (including the Eastern Townships and modern-day Ontario, receiving altogether some 10,000 refugees). Realizing the importance of some type of consideration, on November 9 , 1789 , Lord Dorchester , the governor of Quebec, declared "that it was his Wish to put the mark of Honour upon the Families who had adhered to the Unity of the Empire..." As a result of Dorchester's statement, the printed militia rolls carried the notation:
Some of the richest and most prominent Loyalists went to Britain to rebuild their careers; and many received pensions. Many Southern Loyalists, taking along their slaves, went to the West Indies and the Bahamas , particularly to the Abaco Islands. Thousands of Iroquois and other Native Americans were expelled from New York and other states and resettled in Canada. The descendants of one such group of Iroquois , led by Joseph Brant Thayendenegea , settled at Six Nations Of The Grand River , the largest First Nations Reserve in Canada. A group of Black Loyalists settled in Nova Scotia but, facing discrimination there, some emigrated again for Sierra Leone . Many of the Loyalists were forced to abandon substantial amounts of property, and restoration of or compensation for this lost property was a major issue during the negotiation of the Jay Treaty in 1795. More than two centuries later, some of the descendants of Loyalists still assert claim to their ancestors' property in the United States. TODAY Modern-day descendants of those original Refugee s oftentimes apply the term ''United Empire Loyalist'' to themselves, using "UE" as Postnominal Letters ; the Honorific is the only Hereditary Title in Canada. Such everyday practice is rare, even in the original Loyalist strongholds like southeastern Ontario. However, it is used extensively by historians and genealogists. The influence of the Loyalists on the evolution of Canada remains. Their ties with Britain and their antipathy to the United States provided the strength needed to keep Canada independent and distinct in North America. The Loyalists' basic distrust of republicanism and "mob rule" influenced Canada's gradual "paper-strewn" path to independence. In effect, the new British North American provinces of Upper Canada (the forerunner of Ontario) and New Brunswick were founded as places of refuge for the United Empire Loyalists. (For a consideration of Loyalists' role in the formation of English Canadian identity, see Canadian Identity .) The word "Loyalist" appears frequently in school, street, and business names in loyalist-settled communities such as Belleville , Ontario. The nearby city of Kingston was established as a loyalist stronghold, named in honour of King George III. LIST OF LOYALIST SETTLEMENTS IN PRESENT-DAY CANADA 18th-century names are listed first, alongside their present-day equivalents.
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