Some American politicians had mistakenly expected the population of Upper Canada, which was mostly of American origin, to throw off its "British yoke." However, that did not happen since many of them were United Empire Loyalists and had left the Americas out of loyalty to Britain. After 1815, British officials, Anglican clergy, and Loyalists tried to spot and root out American ideals like democracy and republicanism. Thus, the British and Loyalists could set the different colonies of what would later become Canada on a course that was different from that of their former enemy. They also discouraged further immigration from the United States.