Associators were members of 17th and 18th century, volunteer, military associations, in the British American Thirteen Colonies and British Colony of Canada, more commonly known as, Maryland Protestant, Pennsylvania, and American Patriot and British Loyalist, colonial militias. The terms "Association", "Refugees", and "Volunteers", and "Partisans", usually applied to military "associators". The meaning, of "Non-Associators", applied to American colonists, who refused to support and sign "military association" charters, were not affiliated with associators, and chose instead to pay a fine and suffer possible retaliation.