New Jersey

General Lord Cornwallis continued to chase Washington's army through New Jersey, but Howe ordered him to halt^[76] and Washington escaped across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania on December 7.^[77] Howe refused to order a pursuit across the river, even though the outlook of the Continental Army was bleak. "These are the times that try men's souls," wrote Thomas Paine, who was with the army on the retreat.^[78] The army had dwindled to fewer than 5,000 men fit for duty, and would be reduced to 1,400 after enlistments expired at the end of the year. Congress moved inland and abandoned Philadelphia in despair, although popular resistance to British occupation was growing in the countryside.^[79]

Emanuel Leutze's stylized depiction of Washington Crossing the Delaware

Howe proceeded to divide his forces in New Jersey into small detachments that were vulnerable to defeat in detail, with the weakest forces stationed the closest to Washington's army.^[80] Washington decided to take the offensive, stealthily crossing the Delaware on the night of December 25–26, and capturing nearly 1,000 surprised and unfortified Hessians at the Battle of Trenton.^[81] Cornwallis marched to retake Trenton but was first repulsed and then outmaneuvered by Washington, who successfully attacked the British rearguard at Princeton on January 3, 1777, taking around 200 prisoners.^[82] Howe then conceded most of New Jersey to Washington, in spite of Howe's massive numerical superiority over him. Washington entered winter quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, having given a morale boost to the American cause. Throughout the winter New Jersey militia continued to harass British and Hessian forces near their three remaining posts along the Raritan River.^[83] In April 1777 Washington was amazed that Howe made no effort to attack his weak army.^[84]

Test Acts

The Declaration of Independence was followed by the Test Laws, which required all colonists to swear allegiance to the state in which they lived.^[85] The Test oath was intended to identify those who were indifferent to or were secret enemies of the Revolution. They prescribed loyalty to the patriot cause, disloyalty to the British government and a promise not to aid and abet the enemy. A record was kept of those who took the oath and they were issued a certificate for safety from arrest. Failure to take the oath meant possible imprisonment, denial of civil liberties, banishment and in some instances, death.^[86] Loyalists were expelled from all public offices and forced to pay double or triple taxes. A loyalist who was a professional such as a doctor or lawyer was often denied the right to practice. They were not allowed to act as an executor of a person's will or be a guardian to an orphaned child. They could not be the administrator or executor of a person's estate and if they were owed money they had no legal redress.^[87] The loyalist sentiment was particularly strong in New York, where the prominent DeLancey and Philips families overtly aided the British and suffered as a result.^[88]
The early Test Laws were followed by more repressive measures. By November 1777 the treasury of the Continental Congress was empty, and to provide funds for the war Congress instructed the states to pass Confiscation Acts which allowed for the appropriation of property belonging to loyalists.^[89] Tories were offered a choice of either swearing loyalty to the revolutionary cause or exile, the alternative being to forfeit 'the right to protection' by the revolutionary government. Quakers who refused to join either side also had their property taken away. Later states passed the Citation Acts which prevented Loyalists collecting their debts.^[90]