“Maybe they wanted independence from Britain so THEY could assume the heavy hand??”
Or maybe they didn’t want independence at all.
I know lot of New England colonists were loyal to the Crown - the American Revolution happened in spite of them.
The fact that they still proudly call themselves “New England”, and name a lot of their towns after English towns - might be an indication of how they identify.
Heck, the Boston accent sounds more British than it does American.
One could make a good argument for not wanting independence. Many of them simply didn’t want it. Those “elites” in “New England” had the strongest ties to Britain. Their merchants and traders worked with them in the export and import businesses and they really liked that cozy relationship. Many of them were angrier at the new American government than the British crown when they blockaded American ports and stopped their trade with Britain and the other colonies.