It may seem strange at first that the Continental Congress was able to defeat the Empire, a military powerhouse that had recently dominated other countries such as Spain and France. Although the crown seemed to have the odds stacked in their favor when comparing statistics, the complications of this war allowed the humble colonies to out-perform the British.For starters, location. Due to the ground of the war; to deteriorate all British control on colonial soil, the location and the means of the war were just that. For the continental congress, this meant troops, supplies and military orders did not have to leave their origin location to transpire. Where as for the British Army, it would take months to cross the Atlantic as well as cost ample resources to achieve. This also meant the colonist would know the ins and outs of the lands in battle time when the opponents would not. But all this did not discourage the crown, at first.The war begins in 1775 and both sides are confident. The British thought they could cease the American Revolution in Massachusetts, and that would be all they would have to do. But in March of 1776 the Colonist scared off the Continental Congress in Boston by cannon fire. The British then fled to Canada to recoup and restrategize the war. Colonist moral was up, British confidence went down.As Britain needed to create a new game plan, the question of worth started to float about. For the colonist, it was a fight to live free, where as for the British, it was simply to occupy colonies. The British were realizing now that it would not be a simple fight of containing a revolution, but they would have occupy New England and work their way south to dominate each of the colonies. Britain were moving south into New York when Washington realized the continuum of the war, and sent troops into Saratoga. This was a horrible loss for the crown, losing 2 troops for every 1 American soldier lost. Continuing to defeat British moral as well as take down their resources. American victories continued at the Battle of Bernis Heights. The British could not make is past New York without a two major losses. More and more of Britain disagreed with the war as America gained a new allie, France. The French respected the moral of the Americans to fight for their freedom, and it probably didn't help the British that they were bombing french soil less than 100 years ago, leaving a distrust in righteousness towards to British. Now the American Revolution was a world-wide affair, setting even more fear into the British. They again felt the need to change their war plan.The crown decided to switch their war efforts into the southern colonies. They believed they had more loyalties here. Despite finding to have far less loyalist than they believed would reside here, the surprise on the colonist still allowed the British to win a few battles in the south, allowing their occupation in Savannah as well as Charleston. Despite the small wins, the British were deteriorating as they moved North. They were using up their supplies as Americans would be stealing their supplies off of the British Fleets docked by their residencies. But the British finally made it to Yorktown, Virginia with the little fight they had left. Due to the boost of American moral, acquiring free British supplies while easily transporting their own, the colonist won the Battle of Yorktown. British General Charles Cornwallis was forced to surrender. After this final loss, the British voted that the cost and risk of the war was too high to continue, and the Americans had finally won.
There were a number of factors that allowed the American colonists to prevail in the Revolutionary War. Let us examine the two most important of these factors.
First, the Americans were able to win because they were more motivated than the British. The British Empire did not have nearly as much at stake as the Americans did. This is similar to what happened with the US in Vietnam almost two centuries later. The US gave up and stopped fighting in Vietnam because the result simply did not matter as much to the Americans as it did to the Vietnamese. The same is true of the Revolutionary War. The British government was willing to, at some point, cut its losses and leave. The colonists were more dedicated and more willing to pay the price needed to win the conflict.
Second, the Americans got help from the outside. Again, this is similar to what happened in Vietnam. In Vietnam, the US had geopolitical rivals who wanted to hurt the US. This led them to help the North Vietnamese. In the Revolutionary War, the British also had geopolitical rivals, most notably the French. The French wanted to weaken the British in any way possible. Because of this, they supported the American colonists with weapons, with money, and even with actual military forces. By doing this, the French made it much more likely that the colonists would be able to win.
These were the two main ways in which the colonists were able to win. They had a lot of help from Britain’s rivals and they cared much more about the outcome of the conflict than the British did.
https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/french-alliance
No comments:
Post a Comment