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The American Colonies

The diversity of the United States of America goes back to a couple hundred years ago when they were still northern, middle, and southern colonies. The differences in politics, economics, and social issues of the American colonies during the 18th century were vast in a few areas and minor in others. The way they dealt with these issues, however, helped shape this country to what it is today.
Many people often assume that the American Revolution was a majority movement. In contrast, it was not. About 2/5th of the population were Radical Whigs, or Patriots. They formed groups such as the Sons of Liberty to show their disagreements with British laws. They had all at one point wanted to stay on good terms with King George III (which is why they wrote the Olive Branch Petition), but they believed in making a statement about what they thought was right and what was wrong. A few Patriots were too confident in their fellow colonists and assumed everyone felt the same way they did. In 1774, Richard Henry Lee wrote to Arthur Lee, “A very small corrupted Junto in New York excepted, all N. America is now most firmly united and as firmly resolved to defend their liberties ad infinitum against every power on Earth that may attempt to take them away.” (Doc. C). Another 2/5th of the population were Tories, or Loyalists. They were in sympathy with their home country of Great Britain and did not believe in the ideals of the Patriots. They were sometimes tarred and feathered by the Whigs, which caused many to flee and seek refuge in Europe. The remaining 1/5th of the American colonist population were neutral. They did not care about what was going on '' they just wanted to carry on with their normal lives.
At the beginning, in the 1760’s, even most of the British were not too were worried about the Americans. Of coarse it was obvious that the colonists were somewhat rebelling, but they did not think the Americans were a threat to Britain at all because they were not...