In the eyes of the colonists the separation happened in London, not in the colonies. The fighting started because they wanted "their rights as Englishmen" and n

In the eyes of the colonists the separation happened in London, not in the colonies. The fighting started because they wanted "their rights as Englishmen" and nothing more. There's a reason the Declaration of Independence happened more than a year after the first spurts of military action (and was very controversial in the colonies even then).