01-01 UEL

If you really want to get your head around our relations with the United States, you must go back in history to the American Revolutionary War of 1775-1783, when the US fought for its independence from the United Kingdom. Why? Because about 80,000 Americans still loyal to Britain fled to Canada. We call them and their descendants United Empire Loyalists or UEL.
And if you find history boring, pick up a disc of the movie The Patriot starring Mel Gibson. From the movie you get a sense of the emotion and the divisions between those wanting to escape what they called British taxation without representation and loyalty to the Crown. The famous British General Cornwallis is featured in the movie. He surrendered to General George Washington of the Continental Army in 1781.
Part of the significance associated with this era of history was the impact the UEL made on Canada. The UEL population were English speaking with strong ties to the British legal system and culture. What was simply British North America to Americans became two strong separate provinces, Upper Canada or Ontario and Lower Canada or Quebec.
The UEL population were founders of what later became the nation of Canada in 1867.
And, the substantial immigration of loyalists resulted in population changes in Atlantic Canada with the creation of New Brunswick separate from Nova Scotia. The major portion of the UEL population landed in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, but they moved and settled all across Canada.
Ontario attracted significant numbers of the UEL with the provision of free land. So many of the farms in the Cornwall, Kingston area of Ontario are proudly UEL descendants. The photo of the statue in Hamilton honours the UEL.
The UEL story was part of my wife’s family history. Her great, great grandmother Samantha Munson crossed the border at what is called Alexandria Bay today, near Gananoque, Ontario with her spinning wheel under her arm. And we are the proud possessors of that heirloom today.
Understanding history helps you understand yourself and your values. Canadian history based on the UEL population explains the basic underlying anti-Americanism in our culture; but at the same time, a lot of respect for Americans because of the economic ties associated with investment and trade. The UEL population was very diverse and very industrious. That describes Canadians today.
Based on a census of the population in Ontario at the time of the “War of 1812”, the population of 110,000 was made up of 20,000 UEL and 60,000 later American immigrants. Our history is US history.
I found it interesting that there were about 3,500 black immigrants who were also part of the UEL but came to Canada mostly as slaves. Ontario passed anti-slave legislation in 1793 to free any living in the province at the time.
Lots of memorials to our founders: a ten-cent stamp, a township near Kingston called Loyalist, and June 19th as UEL day in Ontario. And lots more stories like this across Canada.