five to one before
Up to the time of the Declaration of Independence these peaceful people had leaned rather toward the Whigs . But when General Washington evacuated Long Island , and the Continental prospects seemed to dwindle , it was wonderful to note how these same trimmers began again , first furtively , then with less concealment , to drink the King 's health . Roughly speaking , the majority of the avowed Tories were in the lower district of Tryon County , that called the Mohawk district , embracing all east of Anthony 's Nose , including Johnstown , Tribes Hill , and Caughnawaga . They had , indeed , out-numbered the Whigs by five to one before the flights to Canada began ; and even now enough remained to give a strong British color to the feeling of the district . In the western districts of the county , where the population was more purely Dutch and Palatine , the Whig sentiment was very much stronger . But here , too , there were Tories , confessed and defiant ; and everywhere , as time passed , the dry-rot of doubt spread among those who were of neither party . It came at last that nearly every week brought news of some young man 's disappearance from home -- which meant another recruit for the hostile Canadian force ; and scarcely a day went by without the gloomy tidings that this man or the other , heretofore lukewarm , now spoke in favor of submission to the King .