<P> The revolution could divide families . The most dramatic example was when William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin and royal governor of the Province of New Jersey, remained loyal to the Crown throughout the war; they never spoke again . Recent immigrants who had not been fully Americanized were also inclined to support the King, such as recent Scottish settlers in the back country; among the more striking examples of this, see Flora MacDonald . </P> <P> After the war, the great majority of the 450,000--500,000 Loyalists remained in America and resumed normal lives . Some, such as Samuel Seabury, became prominent American leaders . Estimates vary, but about 62,000 Loyalists relocated to Canada, and others to Britain (7,000) or to Florida or the West Indies (9,000). The exiles represented approximately 2% of the total population of the colonies . Nearly all black loyalists left for Nova Scotia, Florida, or England, where they could remain free . When Loyalists left the South in 1783, they took thousands of their slaves with them to be slaves in the British West Indies . </P> <P> A minority of uncertain size tried to stay neutral in the war . Most kept a low profile, but the Quakers, especially in Pennsylvania, were the most important group to speak out for neutrality . As Patriots declared independence, the Quakers, who continued to do business with the British, were attacked as supporters of British rule, "contrivers and authors of seditious publications" critical of the revolutionary cause . Though the majority of Quakers attempted to remain neutral, a sizable number of Quakers in the American Revolution nevertheless participated to some degree . </P> <P> Women contributed to the American Revolution in many ways, and were involved on both sides . While formal Revolutionary politics did not include women, ordinary domestic behaviors became charged with political significance as Patriot women confronted a war that permeated all aspects of political, civil, and domestic life . They participated by boycotting British goods, spying on the British, following armies as they marched, washing, cooking, and tending for soldiers, delivering secret messages, and in a few cases like Deborah Samson, fighting disguised as men . Also, Mercy Otis Warren held meetings in her house and cleverly attacked Loyalists with her creative plays and histories . Above all, they continued the agricultural work at home to feed their families and the armies . They maintained their families during their husbands' absences and sometimes after their deaths . </P>

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