Why Did Britain Lose The Revolutionary War

The American Revolution was a critical turning point in American history. Following the French and Indian War, Britain ignored its previous policy of salutary neglect and began intervening in the colonies affairs through taxes, occupation of soldiers, violation of civil liberties, all the while ignoring colonial pleas for representation in Parliament. These events led to the “shot heard ‘round the world” at the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. America was now at war with Britain. Nevertheless, the impact of

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were an exciting period of time for the thirteen British colonies that would eventually become The United States of America. This time period saw the development of the colonies into self-sufficient entities, which would ultimately lead to the American Revolution. Although every colony was unique, there were similarities in the colonies that were close to each other geographically. Today, the colonies are grouped together into the New England colonies, the Middle colonies, and the Southern colonies. The New England, Middle, and Southern colonies had both similarities and differences regarding their political, economic, social, and religious

Anglicization of the Britain’s American colonies was a big event for the course of not only American or British history, but world history. The colonists adopting many British ways and becoming very patriotic towards the “mother country” had a large effect on the events that unfolded in the late 18th century. While it is true that the American colonists were incredibly British during the beginning to the mid-18th century, the colonies had been around long enough to develop their own culture and way of doing things. The series of events and acts that were imposed on the colonists post French and Indian War got the ball rolling on what came to be known as the American Revolution. The colonists were so fed up with the way in which the British were tightening their hold on the colonies to the point where they were driven to rebellion. The combination of British and underlying American ideals in the pre-revolution era were a necessarily pre-requisite and important component of what would become the American Revolution.

While all of the above social, cultural and economic circumstances were playing out and laying the groundwork for the American Revolution, several important political developments came to fruition in the concluding half of the 18th century that sealed the certainty of the American Revolution and made it inevitable. These developments, namely, the relative strengths of the local and colonial governments at the time, the betrayal of the colonies by the British Crown after King George’s War, and the end of Salutary Neglect, proved to present insurmountable odds to the colonists.

During the American Revolution, The British and the American colonists had many difficulties and challenges to overcome. Both sides had great disadvantages and advantages, but the in the end the colonists had the most advantages and won their independence from the British. Some of the most important reasons the colonists won was that they were fighting on their own continent and knew the land better than the British, they received help from other European countries such as France and they had a well-experienced General; George Washington.

This, however, was no simple task. The British were superior in many aspects, so how exactly did the colonists win the war? Firstly, Britain was extremely overconfident in themselves. They didn’t expect the colonists to put up much of a fight, and though that taking Boston would halt their efforts and end the rebellion. However, once that strategy failed, they were forced to take a new approach and decided to try to isolate Boston and New England by conquering the surrounding colonies including New York. Yet again, the British failed to do this, and during that time, the colonists received help from European countries like France. After defeat they tried one more strategy which was to take the South and use the loyalists who lived there. The colonists then fought them using guerilla tactics, in which they launched small hit and run attacks, and targeted the weak points in the British army. This strategy ultimately led to the colonial victory. Besides just the military tactics used by the rebels, there were some other factors that helped in their victory. Firstly, the British mostly ignored the loyalists who could have been very useful to them in battles. Secondly, although it may not seem like much, the United States generals, including George Washington were good at keeping the soldiers’ morale high, despite even a series of losses. Because of this, the army never gave up until they were victorious. Lastly, because the British were fighting in unfamiliar land which was separated from their home country by an ocean, they were faced with many disadvantages. They also had to hold control of a colony when they overtook it, meaning that some troops would have to be left behind. Overall, even though the British were much better equipped than the Americans, the colonists played to their strengths and Britain’s weakness, which proved to be

When the thirteen colonies were created, the colonies depended greatly on England in order to survive and make something out of this new land. England not only helped them economically but also in time of war against the French during The French and Indian War. It meant that England had to spend extra money helping out the colonies and also with any necessary equipment required to fight in the war. Back home, England had been fighting a war for around 100 years already, so helping out the colonies just added more to their expenses. England wanted to earn some of the money they had wasted, so England decided to raise and put new taxes on the colonies. The colonials thought some of these taxes were outrageous and began getting furious at England. This was one reason for the tension that grew between the colonies and England. Other reasons like the Boston Massacre, in which British soldiers shot and killed 5 colonials, and the Intolerable Acts, led to more anger and tension between these two. All this things eventually led to the colonies declaring war on England. I believe the most significant cause to why the colonies declared war on England was because of the

The American Revolution was undeniably the most pivotal time period in respect to United States History, but who was really to blame for initiating the conflict? While both the British politicians and American colonists shared the blame for the kindling of the revolution, one party was certainly more at fault than the other: the British. Through short-term causes of taxation and incommodious trade acts, and long-term causes of salutary neglect and involvement in the burdensome French & Indian War, the British politicians proved to ultimately be the most responsible for igniting the Revolutionary War.

In contrast to the non-violent Indian revolution the American Revolution was a violent struggle for independence from Britain. The British victory in the French and Indian War left Britain’s resources stretched thin due to the fact that its land holding had increased in size. The war was also expensive and drained the British coffers. In order to remedy this problem American colonist were forced to

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.

Despite the French losing the French and Indian War, the colony was devastated by the strain of having to defend the frontier. Britain, tired of being asked by the colonies for help defending the frontier, gave colonists a choice. They could pay for 10,000 British soldiers or raise their own forces ("London Years"). The colonists were not thrilled by either option and began to have resentment against the British government.

While there are numerous contributing factors to America’s success in achieving independence, the most critical factor can be attributed to the series of British mistakes throughout the conflict. Prior to the onset of the Revolutionary War, the British government faced serious challenges, both politically and fiscally. The conclusion of the French and Indian War coupled with the fighting in Europe, India and the West Indies, left Britain with considerable debt and with few to little allies. The British government saw America as a way

The relations between England and the British North American colonies could always be considered precarious. Prior to 1750 British essentially followed a policy of benign neglect and political autonomy in the American colonies. (Davidson p.97) The colonies were for the most part content with benign neglect policy, relishing in a “greater equality and representative government”(Davidson p.95) within the colonies. Competition among European Imperial nations began to effect British policy toward North America colonies causing rapid shifts from 1750 to 1776. During this period, the British Empire made a series of policy decision that sealed the fate of the British North American

Many factors contributed to the British losing the American Revolutionary War. By the 1770’s the American colonists were not socially, religiously, or culturally connected to Britain. The colonists has their own ways of life and thus were not British by culture. The majority of the colonists had immigrated to America to escape the rigid class structures of Britain and Europe.

The British had very few, but significant disadvantages/weaknesses. Since America was large and unfamiliar territory for them, it was troublesome to conquer and to hold territory. The British were 3,000 miles from home so it often took months for military orders, troops, and supplies to arrive from Britain after it was is sent out. And also due to distance, they couldn’t communicate with their leaders, reinforcements, and supply lines. They didn’t send their top military leaders, which caused problems. Their Red Coats and militant style made them easy targets to identify in the wilderness or on open fields. Their soldiers were fighting for a King, not for their own cause. They lacked motivation to crush the opposition from the onset of the war. They were also over-confident and cocky. Their goal was persuade the Americans to give up their claims of independence, which was an extremely rigorous objective. Also, the country had been at war for years and citizens were tired of war and war taxes.