In 1775 Patriots made up only about 40 to 45 percent of the white colonial population, while 15 to 20 percent remained loyal to the British crown. This episode explores the American Revolution as America’s first civil war, told from the perspective of the losing side: the Loyalists, also known as Tories, royalists and Kingsmen.

We examine why loyalists believed in parliamentary sovereignty, the diverse coalition that sided with Britain, including tenant farmers, Quakers, Highland Scots, the Iroquois and Black Loyalists, and the legal puzzle that femme covert created for loyalist wives. We then follow the Great Exodus of 65,000 to 70,000 refugees and the surprising ways it reshaped Canada, Sierra Leone and the United States.

• Benjamin Franklin and his loyalist son William Franklin on opposite sides
• Lord Dunmore’s proclamation and the Ethiopian Regiment’s “Liberty to Slaves” motto
• The Loyalist Claims Commission and the United Empire Loyalist title in Canada
• Birchtown, the Shelburne riots and the founding of Freetown in Sierra Leone
• How the departure of colonial elites opened the door for America’s “new men”