A history of the United States . spirit of loyalty andfidelity to the Crown. Suchpeople were opposed to everyform, of agitation that wouldlook to the British like insubordi- „ ^ „ ,,„ nation. The second class, while Colonial Flag, 177G. believing that there were abuseswhich sliould and would be corrected, acknowledged the su-preme power of Parliament. Like the British, they did notsee why their lack of representation differed very greatly inprinciple from the condition of some of the larger towns inEngland. They thought also that the abuses could in timebe removed by a general and friendly agi
A history of the United States . spirit of loyalty andfidelity to the Crown. Suchpeople were opposed to everyform, of agitation that wouldlook to the British like insubordi- „ ^ „ ,,„ nation. The second class, while Colonial Flag, 177G. believing that there were abuseswhich sliould and would be corrected, acknowledged the su-preme power of Parliament. Like the British, they did notsee why their lack of representation differed very greatly inprinciple from the condition of some of the larger towns inEngland. They thought also that the abuses could in timebe removed by a general and friendly agitation. The thirdclass consisted of the out-and-out reformers. Their leaderswere such men as Samuel Adams, James Otis, and PatrickHenry, who believed that if the rights of the colonies werenot granted when they were pointed out, the proper coursewas to fight for them. As the agitation went on and theBritish government made blunder after blunder, the third ofthese classes, tliough at first inferior in numbers to the others,. § 161] FAILURE OF BRITISH EXPEDITIONS. 119 became more perfectly organized and so got the upper it is a great mistake to suppose that the American peopleat any time were unanimous on the subject of independence,or even of resistance. It is probable that in the second yearof the war, even in New England, one fourth of the peoplewere opposed to it; that in the Middle states the proportionwas as great as one third; and in the Southern states nearly,or quite, as great as one half. 160. The Tories. — All those who were opposed to the actionof Congress naturally came to be regarded as enemies, and wereknown as Tories. From the first they made a vast amount oftrouble. During the siege of Boston they were numerous,outspoken, and influential. They desired that the Revolution-ary cause should fail. They acted as spies and carried infor-mation to the British; and whenever the patriot cause sufferedany check or disaster, they did whatever they could to
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