United Empire Loyalist
Reception of the American Loyalists by Great Britain in the Year 1783. The engraving depicts Loyalists seeking aid from Britannia following their expulsion from the United States. | |
| Abbreviation | UEL |
|---|---|
| Formation | 9 November 1789[note 1] |
| Purpose | Honorific title |
| Origins | Loyalists |
Region served | British Empire, Canada |
United Empire Loyalist (UEL; or simply Loyalist) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the governor of Quebec and governor general of the Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America[1] during or after the American Revolution. At that time, the demonym Canadian or Canadien was used by the descendants of New France settlers inhabiting the Province of Quebec.[2]
They settled primarily in Nova Scotia and the Province of Quebec. The influx of loyalist settlers resulted in the creation of several new colonies. In 1784, New Brunswick was partitioned from the Colony of Nova Scotia after significant loyalist resettlement around the Bay of Fundy.[3][4] The influx of loyalist refugees also resulted in the Province of Quebec's division into Lower Canada (present-day Quebec), and Upper Canada (present-day Ontario) in 1791. The Crown gave them land grants of one lot. One lot consisted of 200 acres (81 ha) per person to encourage their resettlement, as the Government wanted to develop the frontier of Upper Canada. This resettlement added many English speakers to the Canadian population. It was the beginning of new waves of immigration that established a predominantly Anglo-Canadian population in the future Canada both west and east of the modern Quebec border.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Wilson, Bruce G.; Foot, Richard (4 March 2015) [2 April 2009]. "Loyalists". The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada.
- ^ Orkin, Mark M. (2010). "The Name Canada: An Etymological Enigma". In Elaine Gold; Janice McAlpine (eds.). Canadian English: A Linguistic Reader (PDF). Strathy Language Unit, Queen's University. pp. 38–43. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015.
- ^ Bell, David (2015). American Loyalists to New Brunswick: The ship passenger lists. Formac Publishing Company. p. 7. ISBN 978-1-4595-0399-1.
- ^ Careless, James Maurice Stockford; Tattrie, Jon (24 July 2015) [7 February 2006]. "Responsible Government". The Canadian Encyclopedia (online ed.). Historica Canada. Retrieved 13 November 2017.