But this was not the case. A great majority of the people of the
Colonies were ardently in favor of independence; but there were also a
great many people, and we have no right to say that some of them were
not very good people, who were as well satisfied that their country
should be a colony of Great Britain as the Canadians are now satisfied
with that state of things, and who were earnestly and honestly opposed
to any separation from the mother country.
This difference of opinion was the cause of great trouble and bloodshed
among the colonists themselves, and the contests between the Tories and
the Whigs were nowhere more bitter than in New Jersey. In some parts of
the Colony, families were divided against themselves; and not only did
this result in quarrels and separations, but fathers and sons, and
brothers and brothers, fought against each other. At one time the
Tories, or, as they came to be called, "refugees," were in such numbers
that they took possession of the town of Freehold, and held it for more
than a week; and when at last the town was retaken by the patriotic
forces, most of them being neighbors and friends of the refugees,
several prominent Tories were hanged, and many others sent to prison.
The feeling between the Americans of the two different parties was more
violent than that between the patriots and the British troops, and
before long it became entirely unsafe for any Tory to remain in his own
home in New Jersey. Many of them went to New York, where the patriotic
feeling was not so strong at that time, and there they formed themselves
into a regular military company called the "Associated Loyalists;" and
this company was commanded by William Temple Franklin, son of the great
Benjamin Franklin, who had been appointed governor of New Jersey by the
British Crown. He was now regarded with great hatred by the patriots of
New Jersey, because he was a strong Tory. This difference of opinion
between William Franklin and his father was the most noted instance of
this state of feeling which occurred in those days.
It will be interesting to look upon this great contest from a different
point of view than that from which we are accustomed to regard it; and
some extracts from the journal of a New Jersey lady who was a decided
Tory, will give us an idea of the feeling and condition of the people
who were opposed to the Revolution.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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