Britains_Failure_in_the_Revolutionary_War

Britain’s failure in the revolutionary war Towards the end of the 17th century Britain had begun to lose control of the colonies in the new world. Due to a number of various reasons the colonies wanted independence from Britain. Britain was doing everything in their power to keep control of the colonies but their actions were only creating anger amongst the colonists and in turn, the Revolutionary war took place. There were various reasons why the English weren’t successful and the win of the colonies left Britain powerless over the people of the new World while also leaving a stronger sense of unity among the American Colonists. Before the first shot at the Battle of Lexington Concord the British were abusing the rights of the people living in the colonies by enforcing unfair taxes and rules. One of the first issues dealing with taxes that the British enforced was the Stamp Act. This tax put a tariff on every news paper, pamphlet or document that was sold in the colonies. This caused many angry people because they now had to pay for something that they had been doing for free for quite some time. After the colonists tried to respond to the tax the British felt that they need more power over the colonies and soon created the Declaratory Act. The Declaratory Act stated that England was superior over the American colonies in all cases. This was one of the first steps the English took in attempt to gain complete rule over the American Colonies. Along with this act Britain also enforced other taxes such as the sugar act which allowed them to take money from people in the American colonies for no reason. The Americans felt that they should have a say in the British parliament because now taxation without representation was occurring and it is unfair to tax if the citizens don’t have a say. The greed here is coming directly from the king and parliament instead of majority of the people in England who have no real reason to argue. With lack of representatives in the British Parliament the colonists felt like they were slaves to England and tempers began to rise. The British wouldn’t allow them to have any say, so in response the colonists began to gather weapons in preparation for battle. This lead to the first shots fired at the battle of Lexington Concord which was the beginning of the Revolutionary War. These acts show that the power that Britain held over the colonies was tremendous and that if nothing was changed then the colonies would soon by under complete rule. With one last attempt to find peace with Britain, the colonists decided to send the Olive Branch Petition to King James to try to negotiate the tax and regulation issues in a non-hostile manner. This petition asked for either equal taxes with the people in Britain or no taxes with stronger regulations on trade. The petition was never read and therefore gave even more of a reason to go into battle. Although Britain was a very strong force with a powerful military and an outstanding navy, they managed to underestimate the weaker untrained soldiers of the Colonies which was the largest reason for their downfall. After the beginning of the both the war numerous battles made it evident that the British weren’t going to win as easily as previously expected, and a few new strategies were used by the colonists. One example is during the battle of fort Ticonderoga. A group of angered militia men called the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont captured Fort Ticonderoga at night which completely contrasted the standard British fighting style. Generally, the British would fire their guns in rows of men which made fighting quite suicidal and it was thought of as improper to hide or move out of line. The militia group captured the base at night which had been unseen until this point because the British saw it as a weakness to not fight in a proper fashion. Due to the power and outnumbering size of the British military the colonists felt that the only way winning the war was possible was by using tactics not yet seen or dealt with by the British. The new strategies consisted of fighting when least expected such as at night and ambushes, and also fighting in the woods with fierce “guerilla tactics”. Although statistics show this war should have been taken with ease by the British, the fact that the colonists had home field advantage played a key role in the Colonists success. Now that the battle is fought many miles away from home everything that needs to be acquired to fight will have to be shipped over from Britain. When supplies and ammo runs out the process may take a few weeks for a new shipment to come which can cause a numerous amount of problems. Before the war started the battle occurring dealt directly between the angered colonists and the British government. The soldiers enlisted in the British army are purely fighting because they are forced to. If a person has a real reason to fight than they are going to go out on a limb and take risks because something valuable is on the line. In this case the Colonists lives, families, and land is on the line whereas the soldiers are fighting for a single man who has greater power than they do. Along with having no real reason to fight the British are fighting in unknown territory. The colonists are well adjusted to both the harsh winters and they are fighting on local, well known terrain. This opens up many ambush’s and makes hiding to be of a real ease. Another strategy used was fighting in the harsh winter which was not typical of the Englishman of this time. Not being adjusted to the cold and snowy climate, the British troops in many cases did not fight which made them susceptible to attacks in the winter. Overall the win of the Revolutionary war was the biggest turning point in America’s history. It is evident that this success would not have taken place if the setting was not right to fight. Due to a power hungry leader and a will lacking group of troops the defeat of the British was able to be a success. Without these few determining factors we would be the country which we are today. Works cited http://www.42explore2.com/revolt.htm http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/modules/revwar/index.cfm 1998-2009. Kid Port. http://www.kidport.com/RefLib/USAHistory/AmericanRevolution/Battles.htm http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1263.html