<P> The Revolution was effected before the war commenced . The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people...This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution . </P> <P> In terms of class, Loyalists tended to have longstanding social and economic connections to British merchants and government; for instance, prominent merchants in major port cities such as New York, Boston and Charleston tended to be Loyalists, as did men involved with the fur trade along the northern frontier . In addition, officials of colonial government and their staffs, those who had established positions and status to maintain, favored maintaining relations with Great Britain . They often were linked to British families in England by marriage as well . </P> <P> By contrast, Patriots by number tended to be yeomen farmers, especially in the frontier areas of New York and the backcountry of Pennsylvania, Virginia and down the Appalachian mountains . They were craftsmen and small merchants . Leaders of both the Patriots and the Loyalists were men of educated, propertied classes . The Patriots included many prominent men of the planter class from Virginia and South Carolina, for instance, who became leaders during the Revolution, and formed the new government at the national and state levels . </P> <P> To understand the opposing groups, historians have assessed evidence of their hearts and minds . In the mid-20th century, historian Leonard Woods Labaree identified eight characteristics of the Loyalists that made them essentially conservative; opposite traits to those characteristic of the Patriots . Older and better established men, Loyalists tended to resist innovation . They thought resistance to the Crown--which they insisted was the only legitimate government--was morally wrong, while the Patriots thought morality was on their side . </P>

Who led the revolt against the british and declared american independence