So people were beginning to take sides,

于是人们开始分化站队
and those who felt loyal to the British government

忠于英国政府的人感到自己
had to decide on a course of action,

必须确定行动的方针
because to not declare your loyalty to the protesting colonists was often

因为不向反英的殖民地居民表忠心
as good as declaring your enmity to them.

通常就意味着与他们为敌
Many Loyalists would soon declare with some justification

不久许多效忠派就以一些理由宣称
that by forcing people to sign oaths--

通过迫使人们签名发誓
like, they were loyal to the Patriot cause,

...例如他们忠于爱国者
by inspecting people's purchases to see

通过监察人们的购买情况
if they were complying with non-importation--

看他们是否支持抵制英货...
that the Continental association

大陆协会
was supposedly fighting for American liberty

据称正在争取美国的自由