One common misconception is that American settlers viewed Native Americans as primitive and Native American culture as distasteful. In fact, as Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen points out, colonial authorities had to invent means of preventing colonists from abandoning settlements to join Native American tribes. In Spanish settlements, guards would be posted to prevent colonists from leaving the settlement. The Puritans made it a crime for men to have long hair, and most settlements would engage in harsh punitive measures for any colonist who left. Despite these tactics, there was still a significant outflow.

A second misconception is that the colonists were, by 1775, largely in favor of independence and offered support to the Patriots; this is not the case. In reality, the Patriots and Loyalists (along with their supporters) constituted approximately one-quarter to one-third of the colonial population each. The remaining one-half to one-third of the population was composed of individuals who were indifferent. The American Revolution was really a contest between two minor but fervent groups.