Why Did The British Lose the Revolutionary War? 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 Americans had lived independently and autonomously from Great Britain since the Puritans arrived in Massachusetts in 1620. They had developed their own patriotism and did not consider themselves to be British subjects. Thus, they no longer wanted or needed Britain, for the British were like foreigners in America. After having years of benign British neglect, and after capably governing themselves, the people in the American colonies were not pleased when the British Parliament decided after the end of the successful end of the French Indian War in 1763 to become more engaged in the American colonists’ affairs. The British government wanted to protect the American colonies from future Indian and other attacks. Consequently, the British Parliament imposed taxation on the colonists in the 1760’s. The colonists resented this intrusion, for they felt they were not truly represented in the British government. Taxation without representation became the rallying cry of the colonists. On July 2, 1776, the American Continental Congress in
Many colonists were angered because of high taxes England chose to enforce on them. These taxes were a result of the British participation and victory in the French and Indian war. However, what made the colonists even more angry was the fact that they were being taxed without representation in England’s Parliament. The colonists thought that, in order to be taxed by the British, they should have representation in it. They saw it as unfair to be taxed by a government they had no say in. As Patrick Henry said in his speech made to the Virginia House of Burgesses, “We can under law be taxed only by our own representatives...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it…” (Doc. 1). Since many colonists thought this taxation broke the law, some of them chose to protest by going to the House of Burgesses, boycotting imports, or simply not paying it in response. This response is justified; if
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 war begin in 1775, it seemed clear that Britain would win. It had a large, well-organized land army, and the Royal Navy had no chance on the sea. Many of the British troops in the Revolutionary War were veterans who had fought in the French and Indian War. On the other hand, the Americans had only a collection of undisciplined militiamen who had never fought before. The American navy was small and no match for the thousand ships in the royal fleet.When George Washington stepped into the people who were fighting against British became a actual army which succeed with George Washington help but it wasn't looking so good so it favored Britain. Nonetheless, the Americans believed that they did have a strong chance of success. They had a lot at stake: unlike the British, they were fighting on their home ground protect their own homes and families. though most Americans had no previous military experience, their militia units were usually close bands of men, often neighbors, who served together in defense of their own homes. They elected their own officers,usually men who did have some military training but who also knew the place well. This native officer division was a great source of strength, and as a result, American confidence was generally higher than enthusiasm
The French and Indian War was a pivotal turning point for the relationship between Britain and its American colonies. Prior to the French and Indian War, the colonies experienced salutary neglect, which consisted of Britain ignoring the colonies to deal with problems happening in Europe. On the contrary, during and after the war, Britain started to be more involved in their colonies by being present in the colonies, expecting money from them, and putting restrictions on the colonist’s freedom.
The British had more people and were much better trained, yet they still lost. There main weapon was the Brown Bess musket It was capable of firing approximately three to four shots per minute. There weapons didn't have a much range as the Continental Army's weaponsThe British were not trying to wipe out the Colonists, they were only trying to regain control. There first plan was to the American Revolution in Massachusetts and prevent it from spreading. After this failed, the British decided to capture New York. They succeeded and initiated the next part of there plan, which was to isolate New England, the heart of the revolution. This idea failed though because it wasn’t executed according to plan. It all went wrong when General Howe, decided to led his troops to Philadelphia , where the seat of the Continental Congress was located, and capture the city. As a result, the battle of Saratoga happened which lead to the loss of many British soldiers. Afterword the British decided to focus there efforts on the south and had many military victories. After the British lost the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia and British General Cornwallis was forced to surrender more than 8,000 troops, British Prime Minister Lord North reacted to the news by exclaiming “Oh God! It is all over!” The military failures, the high cost of the war, a mounting national debt and a possible global war, was too much for the British and
Taxation without representation was a great factor in the start of the American Revolution. Patrick Henry wrote a speech saying “We can under law be taxed only by representatives. We have no representatives in the British parliament.”(document 1) From that line in the speech given at the House of Burgesses it states that the colonies can only be lawfully taxed by their own representatives. The British have no representatives in their parliament so the taxing that was put on the colonies was done all by the British parliament without talking to the colonies about it. Not only was it unlawful for the British to
Before the American revolution the British did many unfair things to the colonists or Americans. One of the actions The British decided to do was tax the colonist without representation on the British parliament.
How would you feel if you were working so hard and you just quit. I know you would definitely feel awful after it. So, why would the British give up on the Rebels in the American Revolutionary War. They put in all this money and they would just waste all of it if they gave up. The agreements they would have to make with the Rebels are not fair at all to the British.
When James Otis said “No Taxation without Representation”, the thirteen colonies followed. His idea led to one of the most significant revolutions of all time. The taxation started with the Navigation Acts that eventually led to Stamp Act, then the Intolerable Acts. British Parliament taxed the colonies without a personal embodiment and as the Parliament continued taxing the colonies, they resisted and this resistance led to the American Revolutionary War. The continuous taxation of the colonies affected the way that the majority of the colonists felt about the British and about King George III. There were many laws thrust upon the colonists and some include the Molasses Act of 1733, the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts,
( “taxation without representation”) Governor Thomas Hutchinson resolved “to uphold the law and ordered that three ships arriving in Boston Harbor be allowed to deposit their cargoes and that appropriate payment be made for the goods”. According to bostonteapartyship.com The American colonists believed Britain was unfairly taxing them to pay for expenses occured during the French and Indian War. Likewise, colonists believed Parliament did not have the right to tax them because the American colonies were not represented in Parliament. Britain did that because they realized it could make even more money off of the lucrative tea trade by imposing taxes onto the American colonies.
Therefore, the British could not have been victorious in their conflict against the American Colonies with the reasoning behind the war. Causes such as the Americans having a "Home Field Advantage", Britain's distance from the motherland country, French involvements on the side of the Americans, and American Patriotism. The four reasons accounted for are leading purposes, why the British could not have been victorious in the Revolutionary War. First, American had a "Home Field Advantage" from start to end of the War.
There are three key reasons why the British lost the Revolutionary War. The first key reason is the British failed to get their navy more involved in the war. The second key reason is the British failed to take advantage of opportunities
During the 1770’s, after the French and Indian war, the relationship with Great Britain was coming to an end. A war led by the rich leaders, later called the American Revolutionary war came into effect when the colonies of Britain wanted to separate and have their own government. The army that was made to fight the Britain armed forces are completely different than the present day military.
To everyone discussing the wars, as well as, the advantages and disadvantages, I want to discuss the reasons why the British lost the Revolutionary War and what they should have done.
“No taxation without representation” (Conlin, 128). This was a famous slogan that originated from the 1760s, which was the beginning of the thirteen colonies opposition toward their controller, Britain. As taxation and other acts continuously restricted the colonies, the thirteen colonies want to separate themselves from Britain grew. Beginning in the 1760s, the roots of political independence eventually spread and became an anchor that supported the American Revolution. With an increase of British soldiers in the colonies, tensions were created and expressed by disputes that eventually transformed into a revolution. The “redcoats” presence was there not to enforce taxation of the Parliament, but to control the lower classes increasing dislike