of
confiscation, on the ground that Great Britain had offered
no compensation for the property which her friends had
destroyed. Loyalists who ventured to return home under
the treaty of peace were insulted, tarred and feathered,
whipped, and even ham-strung. All over the country there
were formed local committees or associations with the
object of preventing renewed intercourse with the Loyalists
and the restitution of Loyalist property. 'The proceedings
of these people,' wrote Sir Guy Carleton, 'are not to be
attributed to politics alone--it serves as a pretence,
and under that cloak they act more boldly, but avarice
and a desire of rapine are the great incentives.'

The Loyalists were even denied civil rights in most of
the states. In 1784 an act was passed in New York declaring
that all who had held office under the British, or helped
to fit out vessels of war, or who had served as privates
or officers in the British Army, or who had left the
state, were guilty of 'misprision of treason,' and were
disqualified from both the franchise and public office.
There was in fact hardly a state in 1785 where the Loyalist
was allowed to vote. In New York Loyalist lawyers were
not allowed to practise until April 1786, and then only
on condition of taking an 'oath of abjuration and
allegiance.' In the same state, Loyalists were subjected
to such invidious special taxation that in 1785 one of
them confessed that 'those in New York whose estates have
not been confiscated are so loaded with taxes and other
grievances that there is nothing left but to sell out
and move into the protection of the British government.'

It was clear that something would have to be done by the
British government for the Loyalists' relief. 'It is
utterly impossible,' wrote Sir Guy Carleton to Lord North,
'to leave exposed to the rage and violence of these people
[the Americans] men of character whose only offence has
been their attachment to the King's service.' Accordingly
the British government made amends for its betrayal of
the Loyalists by taking them under its wing. It arranged
for the transportation of all those who wished to leave
the revolted states; it offered them homes in the provinces
of Nova Scotia and Quebec; it granted half-pay to the
officers after their regiments were reduced; and it
appointed a royal commission to provide compensation for
the losses sustained.

CHAPTER VI

THE EXODUS TO NOVA SCOTIA

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