Affect on African Americans, Native Americans, Loyalists/Tories, Patriots and Women from American Revolution

Many were active participants, some won their freedom and others were victims, but throughout the struggle blacks refused to be mere bystanders and gave their loyalty to the side that seemed to offer the best prospect for freedom.

-By the , 1760s the colonists like Quakers began to speak out against British tyranny, more Americans pointed out the obvious contradiction between advocating liberty and owning slaves.

In 1774 Abigail Adams wrote, “it always appeared a most iniquitous scheme to me to fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and plundering from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have.”

Most Native American tribes east of the Mississippi were uncertain about which side, if either, to take during the Revolutionary War, and many remained neutral.

A number of tribes, however, feared the Revolution would replace the British--who had worked hard to protect their lands from colonial encroachments--with the land-hungry colonials.

As a result, these tribes fought with the British or took advantage of the situation and acted against the colonists on their own. Patriots viewed the Indians as a threat throughout the war.

Many moved out of the USA, in some cases having lost much of their property in the war (several states seized land owned by loyalists). Those leaving mostly went to Canada or nearby British possessions in the Caribbean or the Bahamas. Few actually went to England, although Benedict Arnold did.

Because Loyalists were often wealthy, educated, older, and Anglican, the American social fabric was altered by their departure. American history brands them as traitors. But most were just trying to maintain the lifestyles to which they had become accustomed.

Women's lives were also profoundly affected by the Revolutionary War. Women whose husbands and other male relatives went to war had to assume many of their responsibilities, whether it be the farm or small business.

Since Continental Army soldiers were typically drawn from the lower ranks of society, many women did not have farms and businesses to fall back on.

men with a burning desire for liberty. These men were willing to sacrifice all for the dream of a new type of Country; a Country where the power resided with the people.

It was the dream of a Country Of, By, and For the People. These men were the Patriots. This site is dedicated to these men, who not only dreamed, but sacrificed all in order to realize the dream.