Loyalists were American colonists who stayed loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War...their stronghold of New York City. William Franklin, the royal governor of New Jersey and son of Patriot leader Benjamin Franklin, became the leader of the Loyalists after his release from a Patriot prison in 1778.
...
When their cause was defeated...The southern Loyalists moved mostly to Florida, which had remained loyal to the Crown...
...
New York City and Long Island...had a large concentration of Loyalists...
