The American Revolution: Why The British Were Better

The cost of the war in both men and dollars was great to England. About 10,000 British troops were needed for the defense of North America after the war, costing approximately thirty-five hundred thousand pounds a year (Hafstadter 76). Many colonials were not welcoming the change, and voiced their opinions as such. Officials in New Jersey stated that America could

As the war began, it seemed that the British possessed a greater advantage over the unprepared American rebels. The population odds alone were about three British to every one American rebel with around 7.5 million British soldiers against around 2.5 million American colonists. When it came to wealth and military power, the British were in favor. In addition to having a much greater amount of soldiers, the British soldiers were professional trained when compared to the minute amount of poorly trained American militia. While numerous and highly trained, the British also had the necessary money to equip their soldiers with the necessary ammunition, clothes, training, etc. The American soldiers, on the other hand, suffered from lack of supplies, lack of money, no leadership, and the difficult weather conditions. Recruiting, supplying, training, equipping, and paying soldiers were monumental challenges, especially for a nation that was barely forming its first governments. Due to the lack of money, there was a lack of supplies for the soldiers who rarely received their pay

The American's victory in the Revolutionary war led to the newly granted Independence from Great Britain that the Americans had wanted for quite some time. Many of the settlers were tired of Great Britain controlling them, and being involved in their everyday lives (200-202). They decided to go to war with them. While they went to war, the Americans faced many challenges, one of the biggest challenges was the military. There wasn't a fully prepared army that was ready to go to war. Also many people were recruited into the army (196,215). Militiamen were used in the event of any battles against the British during the war, but militiamen were fully prepared for the effects of war due to lack of proper training. Also military performance varied

The American Revolution was far from being the first conflict to occur on the soil of the New World. There were multiple skirmishes, battles, and official wars fought in the territory that resulted in severe bloodshed before the idea of the American Revolution was even conceived. One of the most significant of these wars was the French and Indian War or as it was known in Europe, the Seven Years’ War. At its conclusion in 1763, the Treaty of Paris was signed. The English received a substantial amount of new land for the Empire (94). However, with the acquisition of new land and a significant amount of debt from the extensive war efforts, the British government had to reevaluate many of their policies (95-96). After the Treaty of Paris of 1763, the British were confident in their mastery of North America. However by attempting to tighten their control over their American colonies they initiated a series of poorly thought out programs and policies which resulted in a disastrous rebellion.

From early on the British were confronted with serious challenges with providing provisions for troops operating in America. During the war, British provisioning strategy relied heavily on sustainment support to come from the homeland. The 3000-mile trip proved to a tactical hindrance in feeding the troops as well as resupplying with ammunition, blankets, shoes and armament. Often taking several months to arrive, the supplies arrived spoiled and unusable. Further amplifying the issue, the U.S. Continental Congress authorized “legal piracy” which attributed to the seizing of over 300 British ships during the war.

America hardly managed to defeat the British in the Revolutionary War. At first most nations would have never foresaw the Americans pulling off this victory. One of the most important advantages the colonists had on their side was time, and the home turf advantage. The British had to sail troops all the way from England to America, as well as be able to supply them constantly which the crown couldn't afford to do forever. Also, as the British recruited thousands of Hessians, America recruited thousands of so called “legalized pirates” to aide them in their quest for freedom. Theses legalized pirates at the end of the Revolutionary War plundered over 600 British merchant ships. Perhaps if not the most important advantage was the aide of the French after the Battle of Saratoga. The French supplied the colonies with weapons, a navy, and also sent soldiers of its own. With the support of the French, the colonists were able to triumph over the British at the Battle of Yorktown which lead to the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

When looking at the American Revolution on paper, there would be no surprise that when comparing the colonies to Great Britain, that Great Britain would certainly have the advantage. In fact Great Britain should have won the war handily. The colonists certainly deserve praise for the amount of effort they put in fighting off the British. However, Great Britain had a wide array of advantages that should have gotten them the win. The only reason the revolutionaries won the war was because the British failed.

The four most important mistakes the British made during the American Revolution were their poor logistics, their imagined strength of loyalists, incompetent actions of military commanders, and….

Feeling that the mob was threatening their lives, the soldiers complied, killing 5 colonists. The response from the colonies was nothing less than pure fury. The anti-British movement seemed to multiply in power overnight, as they couldn’t believe that the soldiers that were taking jobs and silencing protest were now committing murder as well. With time, the boycotts and protests worsened and damaged British profits. Parliament, having finally felt the fury of the colonists, decided that it would be wise to repeal the Townshend Acts; However, one act remained: The Tea Act. People in the colonies loved their tea. Most people drank two cups of tea per day or more, so this was seen by the British as the most logical thing to tax, but the colonists

From 1607, with the first permanent settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, to the Georgia colony in 1732, the British colonies in the New World lived under British law as Englishmen. Yet in the 1760s, the relationship between the colonies and their mother country was “strained” when the Stamp Act was placed on the colonies to pay off a war that happened in their colonies. After that, multiple other laws were passed on the colonies, such as the many different taxes, the Townshend Act and the Coercive Acts. The American Revolution was an act of treason towards Great Britain because the colonies wouldn’t exist without Britain settling there. Other reasons why the revolution was a betrayal towards Britain was that they declared their independence from

The Continental Army led by George Washington was not well trained, not well fed, and not well equipped because of the government’s communication. “There was no established protocols for exercising coordinating authority, for supplying and feeding the troops, for transportation, or any other of myriad tasks necessary for a field army,” written from the article “Continental Army” by William P. Kladky. The soldiers in the Continental Army consisted of militias, farmers, slaves, and citizens of the state. On the other hand, the British army was the opposite of the Continental Army. The British was well trained, well equipped, and had one of the largest navy.

The British had many advantages on their side, a key one being wealth. The British Empire had colonies all over the world at the time. It was very easy for the empire to raise money to fund this war by utilizing the resources from these other countries under its control such as. The Kings Empire would take the raw goods and ship them back to Britain, then trade with other countries around the globe. This proved very helpful

Not only did the British have better economic resources and manufacturing capabilities, but their population was almost six times greater than that of the Colonists at around twelve million British citizens. This large population had a direct correlation to the size of the army which at the peak of the war reached over two hundred thousand soldiers fighting for the British against the mere seventy five thousand colonial soldiers. The British also had one of the world's best naval forces easily dominating the colonists who at the time had no large scale form of any naval power. Although the British had many great strengths coming into the Revolutionary war they were missing a few key aspects in the game of war that inevitably caused their loss in the War. While the American colonists were lacking in army size, finances, and manufacturing capabilities they made up for these disadvantages in many other ways shapes and forms.

The American Revolution was the byproduct of Great Britain’s ignorance to the adjustments their growing and developing colony had brought to their attention. This ignorance caused a breakdown in the political and economically balance between the Colonies and Great Britain. The war for independence isn’t the same as the American Revolution. The American Revolution started in the 1600’s when the first permanent colonies were settled, while the war only lasted eight years. Before the first shots of the revolution were fired, a revolution was practically in the colonist minds due to the irritation caused by Great Britain and with time to ferment these irritations a revolution was happening.

Beside misunderstanding the war, the logistic problem, the other reason why the British lost the War could be lack of will to fight. The British soldiers did not have their own personal motivations to fight, because they had had independence to live in their land unlike the Americans who were desired to fight and win to release their freedom from the Great Britain following this quote “One of the the largest disadvantages for the British was their lack of will and drive to fight the War itself. Miles from home, waiting on orders from mother country, and general lack of motivation served as a crucial ideological disadvantage.” (Cleggett, 2016). They typically just fought for their commander ‘King George III’ and their victory over the Americans