Going into the American Revolution the British and American Colonists had many advantages. They also had some disadvantages that were usually countered by the other’s advantages. I will talk about each of their advantages and then discuss their disadvantages.
The British had many advantages going into the American Revolution. One advantage is that they had a professional army that was well trained. By having a well-trained army they had a better chance of winning the battles. The British troops were already in the colonies, the most important places being the port cities such as New York and Boston. The British had a veteran officer corps. Their officers had already fought in the French and Indian War. Supply foundations, by having soldiers
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With this dislike for the British there was a potential for the Colonists to seek allies and a world war could have started against the British. A war tactic that Washington used was very useful. His tactic was based on the advantage that the Colonists didn’t have to win all of the battles they fought. The delay tactics they used gave them more time. Every man fighting on the Colonies’ side of this war had a motivation. Their motivation was freedom. With such a powerful motivator they fought with more …show more content…
Because the colonists didn’t have a real fighting force, there were very few well trained soldiers, and even fewer professional soldiers on their side. The British were much better fighters than they were. The colonists did not have a navy at all, so the British were able to keep sending ships for supplies and they had control of the seas with their strong navy. The colonists had trouble finding other nations to trade with because they did not have a vast treasury and the other nations were fearful of not being paid back if the colonists lost the war. The colonists did not have a strong central government, which meant that decisions took a long time and many of the different colonies disagreed. The colonies did not have much support from the Native American tribes and were fighting them as well as the
The American Revolutionary war began in-part because of economic struggles England faced after securing safety for it’s colonies during the Seven Years War. England needed to increase their taxation on the colonists after the war to pay off its war debts. Prior to these taxes, the colonies were wholly content while under the wing of the British Empire. Not only because the protection the British provided, but also because of their deep reverence for the Motherland. Colonists were angered by with Parliament due to their lack of acknowledgement towards colonists rights and opinions. Colonists stood together in a defiant motion towards liberation from England’s tyrannous acts of lawless duplicity. Before British government was able to fully
The American Revolution was a war of independence between 1775 and 1783 caused by a myriad of political, economic, social and religious disputes between British and American colonies. Political representation for colonists was put into question when economic factors such as taxes came into play. A major factor that drove reform during the American Revolution was the freedom of religion. People were being limited in their participation, were forced to pay taxes on the official church and had to obey church laws. Colonists began to fight against these restrictions and eventually gained rights for people of different religion and as a result of the American Revolution, religious minorities experienced benefits such as the liberty of religion
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.
During the war, the colonists who were fighting, began to realize just how much they were deprived. The colonists observed how much more the British possessed and wanted the same since they were still Englishmen (Doc D). The English officials that came to lead in the colonies were not the most pleasant to work with and also were not superior listeners. The officers ignored what the colonists said, even if it was a colonial military leader. The colonial soldiers were seen as weak and inferior and were not respected by the officers. After the war, the taxes the colonists had to pay, also created new opinions in their minds (Doc G). Colonists began considering more about becoming separate from England and governing their own government. Revolutionaries propagated their ideas of disbanding as well. These theories created unity in the colonies but weakened the link between England and various colonists.
The British were over confident and made poor decisions, whereas George Washington carefully thought out his tactics. The colonists used Guerilla Warfare, and militia were quick and often popped out from behind trees to attack. Using this type of warfare was very beneficial to the Colonists, as it did not give the British enough time to shoot the colonists before they were killed. Guerrilla Warfare was known to “weaken the enemy” (McDougal,210). By focusing on winning small battles, in their own land, the colonists were able to keep enough supplies, food and men to eventually win the war. In the battle of Yorktown, “British general Cornwallis set up his base, located on a peninsula” (McDougal, 209), which was a bad move on their part. Washington saw the opportunity and made the smart decision to block the one land entrance, so that the British could no longer get any supplies that they needed. Washington’s plans along with the Colonists motivation were the were the reason they won the
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
Washington first plans for a strategic defensive, thereby preserving his army. He avoids battle whenever possible and continues to draw the British into a prolonged war of attrition. It is this continuous maneuvering that gives Washington control of the flow of the War. For no matter where the British Army strikes, or what city they may take, or
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
Both the British and the American colonists contributed to causing the American Revolution. The war grew out of contempt: England’s contempt for the colonies and colonial contempt for British policies. A series of actions by the British eventually pushed the colonists over the edge and towards independence. The results of the war gave many citizens a new role in society while others, like slaves, felt no change at all. This paper will examine the specific causes and effects of the American Revolution.
Henceforth, the overall rundown of the book is based off the British view of the the American Revolution and how they viewed the colonist from a retrospect in the events happening. To begin with, King George the III had been placing taxes on the colonist, which made them furious over their relationship with him. The loyalist saw these “acts” as a part of
The Revolutionary War was fought by two sides, those being the British and the American colonists, fighting for whether the colonies would remain under British rule, or become their own independent country, and they both had advantages and disadvantages over the other. The Americans were eventually victorious, forming what is known today as the United States of America. It will be discussed in this essay just what advantages and disadvantages each side had, and how these played into the eventual outcome of victory for the colonists.
The British had several advantages/strengths. They were seemed undefeated had a winning tradition. They outnumbered the Americans in most battles. They were successful against powerful nations such as France and Spain. Their military was the best and strongest army and navy in the world. They were very wealthy which allowed them to provide supplies and hire soldiers (such as Hessian mercenaries). Their soldiers and military leaders were well experienced, well trained, well equipped, well disciplined, well paid, and well fed. They had more ammunitions than the Americans too. Several Indian tribes became allies with Britain, who promised protection of their tribal lands in return. Also, many colonist were still loyal to Britain.
The irregular and disorganized British rule of the American colonies in the previous years led to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Most Americans did not originally want to separate from mother England. They wanted to stay loyal to the crown. England’s unwillingness to compromise, mismanagement of the colonies, heavy taxation of the colonists that violated their rights, the distractions of foreign affairs and politics in England and the strict trading policies that England tried to enforce together made the revolution inevitable. The British were definitely expected to win the dispute because they significantly over powered the Colonists in most areas. They had more money, weapons, people, etc. However the American’s prevailed with
How did the colonists manage to triumph in their battle for independence despite Great Britain’s military might? If any of these factors had been different, how might it have affected the outcome of the 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.