that the word originated from the Irish word toir, meaning to give, grant and bestow; or toirbhearl, meaning efficiency, bounty or munificence. By the 1640s, the term was used in the English language to refer to dispossessed Irish Catholics. It was also used to refer to isolated Irish rebels and guerrillas resisting Oliver Cromwell's campaign in Ireland from 1649 to 1650, who were allied with Cavaliers through treaty with the Parliament of Confederate Ireland. It was later used to refer to dispossessed Catholic Irish in Ulster following the Restoration. Tory was also used to refer to a rapparee and later applied to Confederates or Cavaliers in arms. The term Tory was first introduced in England by Titus Oates, who used the term to describe individuals from Ireland sent to assassinate Oates and his supporters. Oates continued to refer to his opponents as Tories until his death. The word entered English politics during the 1680s, emerging as a pejorative term to describe supporters of James II of England during the Exclusion Crisis, and his hereditary right to inherit the throne despite his Catholic faith. After this, the term Tory began to be used as a colloquial term, alongside the word Whig, to describe the two major political factions/parties in British politics. Initially, both terms were used in a pejorative manner, although both later became acceptable terms to use in literary speech to describe either political party. The suffix -ism was quickly added to both Whig and Tory to make Whiggism and Toryism, meaning the principles and methods of each faction. During the American Revolution, the term Tory was used interchangeably with the term Loyalists to refer to colonists that remained loyal to the Crown during that conflict. The term contrasts the colloquial term used to describe supporters of the revolution, Patriot. Political history Towards the end of Charles II's reign (1660–1685) there was some debate about whether his brother, James, Duke of York, should be allowed to succeed to the throne because of James's Catholicism. "Whigs", originally a reference to Scottish cattle-drovers (stereotypically radical anti-Catholic Covenanters), was the abusive term directed at those who wanted to exclude James on the grounds that he was a Catholic. Those who were not prepared to exclude James were labelled "Abhorrers" and later "Tories". Titus Oates applied the term Tory, which then signified an Irish robber, to those who would not believe in his Popish