 |
| English: A graphical representation of a typical Butler's Rangers soldier. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
New
Englanders were not happy Pilgrims when Old Englanders
sent them
the bill for the Seven years War.
As a matter
of fact they were downright cranky about it.
They did
unfriendly things like confiscating a man's property and
burning his
house down if he did business with the British Army
or sat on
the fence politically.
Sometimes
they hanged him and left his family destitute.
To escape the
dangerous mobs many Loyalists fled to New York
City.
It eventually became the last British stronghold in the 13 Colonies.
It eventually became the last British stronghold in the 13 Colonies.
In a scene
that must have been reminiscent of the expulsion
of the
Acadians, the British evacuated thousands of people out of
New York
harbour before the Continental Army entered the city.
About
30,000 refugees were taken to the Maritime Provinces
and about
2,000 were settled in Quebec.
Once there
many of the men joined Col. John Butler's Rangers and
fought back
against the Continental Army.
Unfortunately
for the Loyalists wherever they ended up
there was no
going home again when the war ended.
People who had
lived comfortable lives in New England had to start
over in the
Canadian wilderness with nothing.The border between Canada and the US was decided by the
Treaty of Paris at the end of the war.
Canada, with a population of less than a million, was composed of angry
French people, angrier refugees from the US and a large number
The 19th century
could only get better.
Right??
