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The called me M.J., that stood for Michael Jones. It was the early part of
April in 1760 when I departed an English port and headed across the waters for
the North American colonies where I planned to settle, start a family, and begin
what I hoped to be a very prosperous life. It was the summer if 1760 when I
planted my feet and my heart in Boston along with several black slaves that I
purchased when I arrived here. I brought a hefty 10,000 British pounds in my
purse, which was my entire life savings. I was twenty-two years old, turning
twenty-three in the fall. I had heard so many wonderful things about this place
and I could not wait to get here. When I first arrived here, because of my
better fortune it was very easy for me to become a landowner and the owner of a
small but successful farm. I purchased a decent size piece of land and began to
build a constructive family and life. It was not long before things began to
take a turn for the worse. Parliament began to throw tedious Acts and Policies
at the American colonies.
For example, the Tea Act which placed taxes on all
British tea and the Stamp Act which placed taxes on all legal documents such as
marriage licenses, wills, and even letter. The Sugar Act placed taxes in all
sugar, wine, linen, and silk. It was beginning to be ridiculous. It was then
that a continuous patter began. Act...Protest...Repeal...Peace. Everyone seemed
to be putting up with that but with each strike by Parliament the other people
in the colonies became more and more angry and liked the idea of gaining
independence form Great Britain very much. In my opinion the idea of
independence was not necessarily a bad one but I felt that it was necessary to
remain loyal to the British crown. I personally chose to adhere to the British
cause during the revolution. Those of us who remained loyal to England wore the
title of “Loyalists” and those who chose to turn their backs were referred to as
“Rebels” or “Patriots”. The patriots referred to us loyalists as “Tories”, which
was a derogatory nickname that they liked to use. Although loyalists were found
in all classes and occupations, from all different walks of life the majority of
us were farmers like artisans, shopkeepers, and myself. Most wealthy shopkeepers
also chose to remain loyal to England as did Anglican ministers, especially in
Puritan New England (Ward 264). Some of us were even black, these were slaves
who the British promised freedom but never kept their promise. Some were
Indians, some indentured servants, and some loyalists were German immigrants but
only because George III was of German origin (VanDoren 119). The number of
loyalists in each colony varied. John Adams estimated that one third of the
colonials were loyalists. Us Loyalists were strongest in the far southern
colonies like Georgia and Virginia, in the middle Atlantic colonies, and
especially in New York and Pennsylvania. We constituted the majority in some
colonies but a very large minority in all the colonies as a whole. It was not
long before a very Thomas Paine’s Common Sense pamphlet hit the colonies like
lightning. When his words and thoughts were distributed about the colonies all
hell broke loose. His work was quite simple but just he instigation the
colonists needed to stand up to the British crown. He told everyone exactly how
he felt about the situation of the colonists. He believe that England had no
right to govern the American colonies, for England was but a fraction of the
size of America, and not everyone who has settled here has and England decent.
Therefore, why should everyone here remain loyal to one such country as England?
He truly believed that America would be better of without the whole monarchy
system. I remember the very day when one of his pamphlets made its way to my
front door. It was windy out side and when I reached to take it from the nail on
which it was hanging it blew through the yard and I had to chase it down. When I
finally got my hands on it I read it, thought about it, and then I threw it in
the fire. Not everyone in the colony read his work and nodded with approval. I
was definitely one of those people and there were many others just like me. We
considered ourselves the “hard-core loyalists”. We had been blind-sided by our
once friends, now rebels and some of their powerful propaganda. I was quite
anxious to help England extinguish the fires that Thomas Paine had started. But
due to the rebels outnumbering loyalists in my colony I had no choice but to
defend my family and myself and had no opportunity to take aggressive action to
directly defend any of Parliaments decisions. I had to worry about whether or
not my home would still be standing the next day and whether or not I could find
anyone to purchase my crops. No one wanted to buy anything from someone who
believed in and supported Parliament. I began to loose everything, my farm and
even my friends who joined the rebel cause. All I had left was my family and my
crown. On several occasions in 1775 I was offered regiments in the rebel service
from some old neighbors who had become captains. They had hoped that I would
change my mind and possibly manage to rebuild the life which I once had. These
men were once my “friends” and when I turned down their offers deserted my
family and me for the last time. All they wanted was for me to join in their
quest for independence and that was something that I just could not do. I
repeatedly turned down offers. It was then that the threats began. It was then
that we began receiving letters threatening my family and me, we would find
rebel flags flying high in our yard, and people would shout at us as they passed
by our home. Such threats made me by my own admission armed my family and
prepared them to defend themselves if needed. My family and I truly feared for
our lives and our futures. The merchants in town would not permit us to purchase
anything from their shops and no one would buy any of our crops. If it were not
for the livestock and other crops which we grew on our farm we would have
starved. There was this one family down the road. The woman’s husband was a
rebel but she knew of our disposition and did not blame us for what we believed
in and she helped smuggle us supplies like medicines, weapons, ammunition, and
tools when we needed them. If it were not for her we probably would not have
been able to survive or stand our ground. The patriots began to enact harsh
penal laws against us and they confiscated our estates, all of which they could
get their hands on (Maier 14). Most of us loyalists did indeed suffer for our
views. I myself continued to voice my opinions in parliament’s benefit. It was a
miracle that I was not shot on the spot on several different occasions. I just
prayed for reconciliation with the British government. Then came along John
Locke’s theory of natural rights and limited government. Thus, us loyalists just
like the rebels criticized a lot of British actions. It was just the case that I
wanted to pursue peaceful forms of protest because personally I thought that
violence would eventually give rise to the rule of tyranny. I too believed that
independence would mean the loss of “economic benefits” derived from membership
in the British mercantile system (Nevins 117-119), but we still remained loyal.
When warfare began those of us who did not take to the battle fields on the
British side took refuge with faithful friends, who even though had different
beliefs they kept us hidden from the rebel’s who wanted our lives. We American
troops won the war and they gained independence from England my family and I
immediately left the country and settled in Canada where we hoped to be safe and
begin our new lives (Lancaster, Bruce, Plumb 203). Decades after the Revolution
Americans preferred to forget about us loyalists but indeed I will never forget
the rebels.
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