The United Empire Loyalists: A Chronicle of the Great Migration [1920 ed.]

The United Empire Loyalists were the thousands who, bound by allegiance to the Crown, fled the turmoil of the American Revolution and set out for what would become Canada. Their story has long been caught between two extremes: vilified in early American accounts and glorified in Canadian memory, leaving a fragmented picture of who they really were. This volume opens a fresh window on that restless period, showing how the Loyalists’ departure reshaped both sides of the border.

Drawing on a wealth of contemporary letters, maps, and official records, the author reconstructs the first years of settlement across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and the early western frontiers. Readers hear the challenges of building new homes, negotiating with Indigenous peoples, and forging a fledgling society under uncertain political conditions. By the end of the first act, the narrative reveals how these migrants planted the seeds of a distinct Canadian identity while echoing the broader currents of a revolutionary age.