Loyalists vs Patriots in the American Revolutionary War

Considered by many historians to be the first civil war fought on American soil, John Adams famously declared that colonial Americans were divided into three equal groups—Patriots, Loyalists and those who remained neutral to the conflict.

How Many Americans Were British Loyalists?

Adams’ equal division numbers may have been somewhat skewed, since by the end of the Revolutionary War, roughly 20% of Americans fought or sided with the British, while an estimated 30 to 40% of Americans called themselves Patriots.

Scholars have also searched deeply for common factors that made Americans sway one way or the other, and while no credible evidence can be found relating to education levels, occupations, wealth or social stratification, when Patriot Ben Franklin’s son William proclaimed himself loyal to the crown, father and son would never speak again.

Demographics Take Sides

What can be gleaned from the war is that Scotch-Irish immigrants in newly-settled backcountry regions distrusted eastern Patriot elites and therefore sided with the British, while many religious groups such as the Quakers and the Mennonites remained neutral due to their pacifists beliefs.

Many members of the Church of England along with Presbyterians, however, chose the Loyalist side, while many Neutrals remained that way under the belief that Great Britain’s overwhelming strength and military prowess would ultimately win the day. After Royal Virginia Governor Lord Dunmore offered male slaves freedom should they take up arms for the king’s cause, when British and Loyalist troops swept through the South in 1779, roughly 20% of the enslaved population took up arms for the British. As for free Blacks in the eastern colonies, an estimated 5,000 men served in the Continental Army by the end of the Revolutionary War.

Death Toll of the Revolutionary War

With a total U.S. population of two and a half million in 1776, by war’s end, an estimated 6,800 Americans had been killed in action, with an additional 6,100 wounded and upwards of 20,000 taken prisoner. 17,000 more would die from the outbreak of infectious diseases, while 8,000 to 12,000 more died in British prison camps.

As for Britain’s losses, an estimated 24,000 to 25,000 British and Loyalist soldiers died during the Revolutionary War, including 1,700 Loyalist killed in action, while an additional 5,300 were lost to disease, making the Revolutionary War, the first great divide in American history.