Why did many large plantation owners choose to

be loyalists

Loyalists were British North America colonists who remained loyal subjects of the British crown during the American Revolution. They were also called Tories, King's Men, or Royalists. Those Loyalists who left and resettled in Canada called themselves the United Empire Loyalists. Their colonial opponents, who supported the Revolution, were called Patriots, Whigs, Rebels, Congress Men, or, in view of their loyalty to the new United States of America, simply Americans. Historians have estimated that about 15 to 20 percent of the white population may have been Loyalists (that is, about 500,000), but there are no exact numbers. [1] An Anglican clergyman Samuel Seabury wrote.