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Show 13 Lopliste When the 13 colonies revolted against English rulean event we're now celebrating-many Americans remained loyal to the crown. What happened to them varies from state to state. IN ALL the colonies the loyalists were subjected to hardship; only in South Carolina were their property rights restored at the end of the war. But in South Carolina and in the other 12 states many loyalists chose to leave America--and remain under the crown. Their flight constituted the largest mass migration from the United States in its history-more than 100,000 leaving leav-ing for England, Canada, the West Indies and the Bahamas. TODAY MANY of their descendants belong to the United British Empire Ass-sociation Ass-sociation and they believe their ancestors were right in remaining loyal to the crown. Many, in fact, insist American versions of the revolution are vastly distorted. distort-ed. The loyalists have a point. Anyone who seriously studies the history of the American revolution will be convinced the British, who fueled the fires of independence with blunders, had considerable precedent and legality on their side. BUT THERE were Irish elements and other elements in this country who sought a revolution. Of course, the American view is that the cause was just. Whether or not the issues were as onesided one-sided as we like to think, the revolution succeeded. Members of the UEL still believe the revolt was a mistake, mis-take, that the country would have fared better as a member of the British Empire. Em-pire. MOST AMERICANS don't agree. But the loyalist view is seldom heard-and should be. They were among the earliest Americans-and fled under persecution by other Americans. |