Some Opposed Independence to the End

• New York patriots fought not only the British but also other New Yorkers during the War for Independence.Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Some powerful and outspoken New Yorkers supported the British government even after war broke out in neighboring Massachusetts in April 1775. New York had many Anglicans, and many of them couldn't support attacking the king, who was the the head of their church. James Rivington ran the foremost Loyalist newspaper in America, which he often used to taunt American patriots. Oliver DeLancey, a wealthy landowner and politician, led a Loyalist unit into battle against fellow Americans during the war. New York City served as the British army's headquarters in America for much of the war, and British officers mostly felt comfortable there, as they were largely among friends.
  
  

Some Supported Independence Early

• Some New Yorkers thought independence was necessary to preserve American liberty. Merchants chafed under British trade restrictions and taxes. Many New Yorkers felt the British government would ratchet up its attempts to control Americans from afar. New York had an active version of the Sons of Liberty, which helped lead resistance to British rule. Philip Livingston, a merchant and head of the patriot legislature that took control of New York in the early days of the Revolutionary War, strongly supported independence. He eventually signed the Declaration of Independence -- after the patriot legislature back home finally voted to support it.
  
  

Somewhere in the Middle

• Like many other Americans, many New Yorkers weren't sure whether they should support the king or the patriots. Historian Joseph S. Tiedemann found that more than 60 percent of residents of Queens County in New York passed up chances in 1775 to align themselves publicly with either side.
  
  

What's In It for Us?

• New Yorkers wanted independence to benefit New York as much as possible. Many land speculators and others clashed with New Hampshire over who should control a mountainous disputed territory in between the two states in the early days of the Revolutionary War. Residents there decided they wanted neither to rule them, and eventually created what is now Vermont.