History of conservatism in the United States remaining loyal to the King, they chose King and Empire. About one in five Loyalists (70,000 or so) Loyalists left the new United States by 1783. Most went to Canada where they are still known as United Empire Loyalists. The patriots who fought in the Revolution did so in the name of preserving traditional rights of Englishmen—especially the right of "no taxation without representation"; they increasingly opposed attempts by Parliament to tax and control the fast-growing colonies. In 1773, when the British imposed heavy sanctions on the Massachusetts colony in the wake of the Boston Tea Party, self described patriots
No taxation without representation the British Parliament. He was shortly afterwards appointed agent for Georgia and East Florida, a post which he forfeited by writing in favour of the Stamp Act. In his Grenville-backed pamphlet of 1769, "The Controversy between Great Britain and her Colonies Reviewed", Knox suggested that colonial representatives might have been offered seats in the British Parliament if they had sought such representation. Knox submitted that, whilst [the radical colonists] exclaim against Parliament for taxing them when they are not represented, they candidly declare they will not have representatives [in Parliament] lest they should be taxed...The truth...is that they are determined