But there are much more significant lines drawn and sides chosen in life. At the time of our founding, many were unaware that the desire to declare independence and separate from Great Britain was nowhere near a universal desire.

In fact, before the War for Independence began, no more than 3% of the colonists wanted independence. After the war began, that number increased to 33%, and during the war, it continued to increase.

So, at the beginning, only 1/3 wanted independence, 1/3 were against independence (the Tories), and 1/3 had not yet decided.

Pennington, New Jersey was one of those decidedly Tory regions. In fact, most New Jersians were Tories. But certain events turned the tide around Christmas of 1776.