The Revolutionary war was--in a way--both a win and a loss for America. The struggle for independence was as much a brutal civil war fought between Americans--the Patriots against the Loyalists--as it was a conventional conflict between the American and the British armies. One of the fundamental arguments of the Patriots, who were in support of the independence of the colonies, was that all men are created equal. Therefore they claimed that no men were wise enough to rule over other men without consent, and believed the ideal way to resolve this situation is by abolishing the monarchy and creating democratic institutions. The Loyalists, however, were steadfast in their commitment to remain within the British Empire despite attacks and harrassment from the Patriots. While many motives persuaded Loyalists, the most significant concern was that the widespread resistance to British regulations would descend into chaos and even anarchy. Furthermore, most Loyalists were …show more content…
More specifically, there was discontent over taxation without representation; the Patriots believed that the colonists did not have a proper voice in the parliament and thus, deemed the taxes unfair and demanded equal rights as mainland British citizens. The Loyalists felt that the taxes were fair as their purpose was to help pay for the costs of the French and Indian War, which was fought, primarily, to protect the colonies. In addition, all British colonies were taxed, and the ones suffered by the colonies were not particularly atrocious to the Loyalists. They also claimed that the colonies were represented "virtually" along with all other subjects of the British Empire even though the colonists had no members in Parliament; Loyalists argued that the reason for the lack of physical representation in parliament was due to the distance of the colonies from the British