The Province of Nova Scotia was heavily involved in the American Revolutionary War (1776–1783). At that time, Nova Scotia also included present-day New Brunswick until that colony was created in 1784. The Revolution had a significant impact on shaping Nova Scotia, "almost the 14th American Colony". At the beginning, there was ambivalence in Nova Scotia over whether the colony should join the Americans in the war against Britain. Largely as a result of American privateer raids on Nova Scotia villages, as the war continued, the population of Nova Scotia solidified their support for the British. Nova Scotians were also influenced to remain loyal to Britain by the presence of British military units, judicial prosecution by the Nova Scotia Governors and the efforts of Reverend Henry Alline.
Context
In Nova Scotia a number of former New England residents objected to the Stamp Act 1765, but recent British immigrants and London-oriented business interests based in Halifax, the provincial capital, were more influential in keeping the colony loyal to the crown. The only major public protest was the hanging in effigy of the stamp distributor and Lord Bute. The act was implemented in both provinces, but Nova Scotia's stamp distributor resigned in January 1766, beset by ungrounded fears for his safety. Authorities there were ordered to allow ships bearing unstamped papers to enter its ports, and business continued unabated after the distributors ran out of stamps.
1775–1778
At the outbreak of the American Revolution, many Nova Scotians were New England-born and were sympathetic to the American Patriots. This support slowly eroded over the first two years of the war as American privateers attacked Nova Scotian villages and shipping to try to interrupt Nova Scotian trade with the American Loyalists still in New England. During the war, American privateers captured 225 vessels either leaving or arriving at Nova Scotia ports. In June 1775, the Americans had their first naval victory over the British in the Battle of Machias. In response to this defeat, in July 1775, the British sent from Halifax two armed sloops to Machias, Province of Massachusetts Bay to capture the rebels. American privateer Joseph O'Brien captured these two British vessels on 12 July 1775 in the Bay of Fundy. The following month American privateers from Machias executed their third consecutive victory in the region by raiding St John.
In retaliation for the American victories at Machias and St. John, the British executed the Burning of Falmouth (present-day Portland, Maine) in October 1775. The following month, in November 1775, the American Patriots retaliated by ships Hancock and from Marblehead conducting the Raid on Charlottetown (1775) and Canso, Nova Scotia where they took five prizes. (In the raid on Charlottetown, the privateers also sought revenge against Nathaniel Coffin, the Loyalist who cut down the Liberty Tree in Boston.) The first year of the war ended with the American privateer Raid on Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
In 1775, rebellion began to ferment within Nova Scotia. Governor Legge began to target prominent Protestant dissenters of the St. Matthew's Church: John Fillis and judge William Smith and John Frost (minister). The Governor also targeted judge Seth Harding from the Liverpool Township and he left on October 1775 and did not return. According to Cahill, as a result of "instances of non-legal repression and petty tyranny, such as the summary dismissals of Judge Smith and Justice Frost, had ended with the recall of Governor Legge [to London] in January 1776."
A small number of Nova Scotians went south to serve with the Continental Army against the British; upon the completion of the war these rebels were granted land in the Refugee Tract in Ohio.
In 1776, there was also armed rebellion such as the Maugerville Rebellion (1776). The other attack was by land and led by Jonathan Eddy who led the Battle of Fort Cumberland. According to historian Barry Cahill, this rebellion led the Nova Scotia government to "use the formal law in sedition trials for an essential aspect of the official response to the American Revolution." The government arraigned dissenters John Seccombe and jailed Timothy Houghton for sedition (incitement to rebellion). Malachy Salter was convicted of sedition in 1777.