What happened to property owned by Loyalists after the independence of the USA from GB?

by marinersalbatross

When the loyalists fled back to Britain what happened to all of their property? Were they able to sell it first? Any evidence that they were forced to sell at low prices to US citizens? Did the US government take land and resell it?

edit: rearranged questions to clarify objective of each.

TRB1783

First of all, a note on your phrasing: to say that rebel governments "were forced to sell" Loyalist property implies that they were not eager to do so. In reality, confiscation and sale of loyalist property was home some states, particularly New York, paid for their war effort. Confiscation may have also played a role in the politics of the American Revolution. If you were a tenant living on one of the great land estates of the Hudson Valley and your landlord was a Loyalist, it would make good economic sense to support the Revolution, drive your landlord into exile, and then buy your farm from the state government after the estate was confiscated.

It's also worth noting that the flight and confiscation tended to happen early in the war. I don't think there was much of an exodus out from rebel-held territory after the signing of the peace treaty/ceasefire in the spring of 1783. Most people who fled the Revolution ran to British lines, particularly New York City, shortly after it was established as solidly in British control. Around New York, at least, this was because anti-Loyalist bodies, like New York's Committee to Detect and Defeat Conspiracies, stepped up their harassment of suspected Loyalists in 1776-1777, trying to flush out anyone who could support a British advance out of New York City. 1777 was also a hard year for New Jersey Loyalists, who had signed Loyalty oaths when the British took the state in late 1776 and were left exposed when the British abandoned the state after Washington's winter offensive at the close of that year. As soon as these people fled their properties, they were confiscated by their state governments.

Maya Jassonoff, Liberty's Exiles is the best recent text that looks at the fate of Loyalist refugees who lost everything during the war. She drew upon the records of the Loyalist Claims Commission, which was set up by Parliament to try to provide compensation for lost property.

Chestnut1

I find the assumption that the Loyalists fled "back to Britain" a bit problematic. The majority were not born in Britain but were rather North American colonists living in the thirteen colonies who remained loyal to and "rendered service" to the crown. More than 50,000 (about half of those who fled) went to the colonies that would eventually become Canada.