Tories wanted to end resistance before violence spread, while Whigs believed they should flex their muscles and intimidate England.
In the failure to reach a bipartisan solution the split within the country increased. A few loud, rebel-rousing colonists to begin to rally support for rebellion by holding pro-war rallies and publishing pro-war pamphlets, such as Common Sense, written by Thomas Paine, which he states, "As a long and violent abuse of power, is generally the Means of calling the right of it in question and as the King of England hath undertaken in his own Right, to support the Parliament in what he calls Theirs, and as the good people of this country are grievously oppressed by the combination, they have an undoubted privilege to inquire into the pretensions of both, and equally to reject the usurpation of either."(Paine, 2) .
Loyalists viewed "Common Sense" as meaningless propaganda. These were people who were content with their simple lives, people whose religion preached pacifism, those who did not want to see their homes, families and lands ravaged by war, and those who felt that the colonial armies where not strong enough to defeat the British and did not want there land and possessions confiscated. There are countless stories told of fathers who would have one son in one army and another in the opposing camp in an effort to play both sides and keep his property no matter what the outcome of the war. (Raphael, 149).
A wealthy planter from Maryland by the name of James Chalmers responded to Paine's pamphlet by writing "The Plain Truth". In it, he states "With all its imperfections [The English Constitution] is, and ever will be, the pride and envy of mankind." (Chalmers, 2) Unfortunately for the loyalist cause, Chalmers writing was too wordy to enlist any more support from the common man. Those who were educated enough to comprehend "The Plain Truth" were in general, already backing the loyalist cause.
