Reply to Ebbie: I did read in a history book (forgive my lax mememory but I can't remember the title) which said that a third of the population in the Colonies were pro independence, a third agianst and a third couldn't have cared less.

In discussions with a close friend (a US graduate in history) we came to the conclusion that much of the known 'history' of the revolution was myth and that it had as much to do with the colonial leaders gaining power than throwing off the oppression of the British. It's an interesting 'What if' to discuss what, and how easily, the British could have done to forestall the revolution at the time; whether there would have been a later revolution is highly moot in this scenario.