The local historians of those times claim that these English settlers,
arriving as they did just before the Revolutionary war, saved Nova
Scotia to the British Crown. If that is the correct opinion, and we are
more disposed to believe it is true than to question its accuracy, then
the British Empire is more indebted to these loyal Yorkshire immigrants
than history has ever given them credit for. The Eddy Rebellion proved
that the New Englanders, who constituted a large part of the
inhabitants of Chignecto previous to the arrival of the English,
sympathized very generally with the revolutionists, and were ready to
help their cause to the extent of taking up arms, if necessary, on its
behalf. These English immigrants were not soldiers; most of them were
farmers and mechanics who had taken little part in the discussions of
public questions, but they were loyal subjects of the King of Great
Britain. They always had been, and they always expected to be, loyal.
The headquarters of the rebellion was in Cumberland, and it was in
Cumberland that the largest number of these Englishmen settled.

In 1776, Mr. Arbuthnot writes, "There is an absolute necessity for
troops to be sent to Fort Cumberland, Annapolis Royal, and a few to
Fort Edward and Windsor for protection, with the help of His Majesty's
loyal subjects who consist of English farmers. A sober, religious
people, though ignorant of the use of arms, will afford every
assistance." He says the others are from New England and will join in
any rebellion. Murdock thinks that Arburthnot did not judge the New
England men fairly; that many of them were loyal subjects of Great
Britain, and did not want to be mixed up in the trouble and discussion
between Great Britain and her older colonies.

Whether this English immigration did for Nova Scotia what is claimed
for it or not, their success in the new country as farmers and settlers