America's First Civil War

Roughly twenty percent of American colonists were “Loyalists” during the American Revolution. Who were these people and why did they elect to remain loyal to the Mother Country? The risks they took were great but no greater than those taken by Americans who chose to rebel. What motivated those who wanted to leave the British Empire? What was at stake in their decision? This presentation outlines the motivations, risks, and possible rewards for both sides and frames the American Revolution as America’s first Civil War.