From:
Date: 2/14/00
Time: 9:13:20 PM
Remote Name: 155.247.31.25
Did the British lose the War for Independence or did the Americans win it?
For the Americans to win independence they did not have to defeat England; they only had to not lose. Americans did not have to go to England and defeat the British Armies on their homeland, nor did they have to destroy England’s ability to wage war. The colonial army did not have to win overwhelming battlefield victories against a highly efficient and well trained British Army or did they have to control the seas and protect commerce with a superior navy. The Americans only had to keep from losing. As long as they maintained an army in the field and a congress in the halls they had, in theory, reached the objective. The colonist never tried to win a war with Britain for they knew that Britain was far too powerful and had many more resources than the Americans had. The Americans waged a primarily defensive war. The armies led campaigns to rid the land of British threat and as long as there was a continental army in the field the American object of independence could be maintained. For the British, they had a much more complex task at hand. They had to destroy the rebellion of a colonial people on a foreign continent; simply defeating their army would not be enough. They had destroyed an ability and desire to wage a war of independence. The British had to maintain a military precence as well as a political one. The British also sought to hinder and control the American colonies’ economy. The British failed in their objections for several reasons, including an exaggerated estimate of Loyalist support, an inadequate program of pacification, major military setbacks, poor management of troops by British generals and a failure to recognize the significance of sea power.