1. The American colonists are acting immature and rowdy. They think that everything that the Britain parliament is doing is "infringing on their rights". There's nothing unjust going on, we've got it made. We have land, slaves, food, anything we want. And because they think they shouldn’t be regulated or think that there is no need to pay their dues, they are sadly mistaken. I choose to stay with Britain in this argument.
2. New Hampshire was a refuge for colonial loyalists.
a. Woodbury Langdon was a merchant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and served in Provincial Congress. He left for the "mother land" and later wrote that "he had left America after using his influence for peace and good order, to the end of preserving his family, his life, and his property, and that he might avoid all temptation to take sides with his disaffected countrymen." (pg 4)
b. A good amount of loyalists used New Hampshire as a stepping stone to get to England including John Fenton, and Woodbury Langdon. John Fenton was "In June, 1775, bodies of armed men at Portsmouth pursued John Fenton, an expelled member of the House of Assembly, to the residence of Governor John Wentworth, and compelled him to surrender. He was then given a hearing by the Provincial Congress and incarcerated in the jail at Exeter, but was later allowed to escape and go to England." (pg 4)
3. New Hampshire turned against the loyalists
a. "When, in the middle of November, the New Hampshire Congress took action in accordance with Washington's recommendation, it contented itself with designating six persons only for removal to moderate distances from Portsmouth, or for confinement in specified towns. The fact that the penalties imposed were not of a severer nature, or the number of those condemned larger may be fairly taken as another indication that the more objectionable officials had already fled. However, the six victims were let off easily, for they were kept under restraint less than six weeks." The other colonies started to put pressure on New Hampshire. New Hampshire , wanting peace, agreed and put on a show for the rest of America. They penalized a few loyalists, put on a show, but didn’t harshly punish the loyalists. The punishments only lasted a fraction of the sentences. (pg 6)
b. "One group of these prisoners, which was forwarded to Exeter in the latter part of October, or later, numbered 117 persons; but in March, 1777, the New Hampshire Committee of Safety was notified by a new board of Commissioners, recently appointed by the New York Convention, that all of the latter 's prisoners were to be recalled and given the choice between taking the oath of allegiance, or seeking the protection of the enemy. Meanwhile, New Hampshire sought to encourage the departure of her own Tories, for on January 16th her House of Representatives adopted a resolution granting full liberty to such of the inhabitants as were disaffected and desirous of leaving the State with their families and effects to do so within the next three months and, in the language of the resolution itself, 'go to any other parts of the Globe they may choose', provided that they would notify the selectmen of their respective towns 30 days in advance of their departure" Loyalists in New Hampshire were subject to the new "laws" making them either take oath to America or leave to anywhere else. Those not under the oath were put under strict scrutiny and had to tell people their every movement, even if they were trying to leave to the mother country. (pg 7)
4. Being a Loyalist, especially in New Hampshire, was a rollercoaster ride. They were safe for the first part, then New Hampshire was subjected to peer pressure from the other colonies and started to "prosecute" their loyalists or force them to join.
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