Eat, Drink, Be Merry and Join the Revolution New Jersey was the "Crossroads of the American Revolution," and its colonial taverns were havens for Patriots and Loyalists alike to debate the political question of independence and even plan much of the Revolution itself. Taverns were the social and political centers of colonial society, and the Garden State had a myriad of establishments that played prominent roles in the founding of the nation. Taverns became recruitment stations for colonial militias and provided a meeting place for local committees of safety. George Washington used them as headquarters and safe houses for his spies and local troops. Discover the intoxicating history of the driving force in the fight for freedom, the colonial tavern in New Jersey.