THE OUTBREAK OF THE REVOLUTION: DIVISIONS IN THE COLONIES

The celebrations surrounding the announcement of the Declaration of Independence took place in every colony, but not every citizen living in the Americas took part. Many loyalists were members of the colonial economic elite and feared the repercussions on their pocketbooks of a break with Great Britain, Other loyalists saw the legitimacy of Britain’s control over the colonies; some loyalists were also very practical men, who predicted the easy defeat of the colonies by the seemingly immense British army.

Blacks in America greeted the Declaration of Independence with enthusiasm. Many free blacks saw the a possible revolution as a chance to improve their position; slaves saw the possibilities of freedom from slavery (during the war some slaves managed to escape their masters, and a few even fought on the side of the British). During the fighting, British troops freed slaves in Georgia and South Carolina, In the North, some slaves fought in colonial militias, winning their freedom through military service. The British courted Native American tribes, but their determination to definitively help the British in battle was never strong.