=159. Lack of Union among the Colonies.=—The war was not simply a war of separation; it was also in some of its features a civil war. The loss of New York, including Fort Washington, brought out the American opponents of the Revolution in great force. From the very beginning of the agitation which resulted in independence, there had been three somewhat distinct classes of people among the colonists. One class believed that on the whole the British government was the best in existence, and that the colonists would be benefited by showing a constant spirit of loyalty and fidelity to the Crown. Such people were opposed to every form of agitation that would look to the British like insubordination. The second class, while believing that there were abuses which should and would be corrected, acknowledged the supreme power of Parliament. Like the British, they did not see why their lack of representation differed very greatly in principle from the condition of some of the larger towns in England. They thought also that the abuses could in time be removed by a general and friendly agitation. The third class consisted of the out-and-out reformers. Their leaders were such men as Samuel Adams, James Otis, and Patrick Henry, who believed that if the rights of the colonies were not granted when they were pointed out, the proper course was to fight for them. As the agitation went on and the British government made blunder after blunder, the third of these classes, though at first inferior in numbers to the others, became more perfectly organized and so got the upper hand. But it is a great mistake to suppose that the American people at any time were unanimous on the subject of independence, or even of resistance. It is probable that in the second year of the war, even in New England, one fourth of the people were opposed to it; that in the Middle states the proportion was as great as one-third; and in the Southern states nearly, or quite, as great as one half.