Loyalists stay in America

Historians have estimated that between 15 and 20 percent of the 2.5 million whites in the colonies were Loyalists, or about 500,000 men, women and children.

So after the revolution the Loyalists decide to stay in their homes, Congress passes an act that declares them natural citizens...then what

Can they form a political party calling for reunification with the Empire and if so could we see states ceeding back to Britain
 
I'd say that mob justice sees their population reduced somewhat and many others forced to flee. A similar fate most likely awaits any who try to lead a political life while advocating pro-British let alone annexationist tendencies.

Can I just ask, why exactly would Congress have to declare them natural citizens? Why exactly would they be any less natural citizens than the patriots?
 
I'd say that mob justice sees their population reduced somewhat and many others forced to flee. A similar fate most likely awaits any who try to lead a political life while advocating pro-British let alone annexationist tendencies.

Can I just ask, why exactly would Congress have to declare them natural citizens? Why exactly would they be any less natural citizens than the patriots?

After the war they may be seen as British rather than Americans
 
Perhaps, let us say, instead of the OTL vengeful attitude toward the loyalists, Congress instead adopts a reconciliatory approach and passes an Act of Oblivion. ?
 
After the war they may be seen as British rather than Americans

How can not granting them citizenship in the first place possibly be enforced? How do you define someone as Loyalist? 500,000 may have supported the British but (at a guess) no more than perhaps 10-20,000 actively fought for them, so how do you dictate who counts as a Loyalist after the war? Get neighbours to vouch for them? In that case you're going to end up with an 18th century McCarthyism, where people will snitch on anyone they don't like just to get them in trouble with the authorities. Just punish those who fought? Then you're not talking about Loyalists any more, just soldiers. And for all of this, why should political affiliation deny you citizenship? Isn't that a violation of the principles of the Declaration of Independence anyway? And there's a real risk that the more pro-British areas, on being told that they are going to be actively outcasted by the state and have all of their rights denied, would declare independence from the newly independent state, dropping the USA into a whole new civil war.

There's no realistic way that you can possibly deny citizenship after an independence war to everyone who supported the losers. There's just too many problems with making the system work. The reason why the United Empire Loyalists fled to Canada OTL was a mixture of political affiliation and fear for their safety, not because the new US government literally transported them to the border and told them never to return. If you want to make the Loyalists stay in the USA, you need to find a way of overcoming those two issues, not the government's stance.

Perhaps, let us say, instead of the OTL vengeful attitude toward the loyalists, Congress instead adopts a reconciliatory approach and passes an Act of Oblivion. ?

The US Government may have been harsh to those it believed Loyalists, but it was more than that which made the Loyalists flee, as above. You need to stop common citizens from attacking Loyalists in the street, and you need to make the Loyalists want to stay as opposed to seeking a new life under the flag they love.
 
I'd say that mob justice sees their population reduced somewhat and many others forced to flee. A similar fate most likely awaits any who try to lead a political life while advocating pro-British let alone annexationist tendencies.

Agreed, to the last syllable.
 
Perhaps, let us say, instead of the OTL vengeful attitude toward the loyalists, Congress instead adopts a reconciliatory approach and passes an Act of Oblivion. ?

I'm not exactly sure why Congress would pass an act requiring Loyalists to play an Elder Scrolls game; especially one that won't be released for over two centuries ... ;)
 

Sabot Cat

Banned
I'm not exactly sure why Congress would pass an act requiring Loyalists to play an Elder Scrolls game; especially one that won't be released for over two centuries ... ;)

It's a reference to the Indemnity and Oblivion Act which, if I'm understanding it correctly, was a law passed after the English Restoration that granted general amnesty to the Parliamentarians as long as they didn't directly involve themselves with the execution of Charles the First.
 
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