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Posted on 11/16/2025 4:54:24 PM PST by whyilovetexas111
Could Great Britain have crushed the American rebellion? An expert argues that, while better generalship and politics might have delayed defeat, the odds were stacked against London from the start. Holding a vast, underdeveloped continent with a small population, across an ocean, was a nightmare even for Europe’s strongest navy and army. Saratoga and French intervention made things worse, forcing Britain to fight a global war while trying to subdue the colonies. In the end, distance, imperial overreach, and political inflexibility meant the empire was likely to lose North America sooner or later.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalsecurityjournal.org ...
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Hmmm.
Yes.
Next.
Didn’t Bill Cosby point this out already?
Imagine if George Washington had gotten the commission in the British Army he so desperately craved during the French and Indian War.
Yes, but God was on our side. We may soon find out what happens when he isn’t.
It is a silly question.
The Colonial army could have been snuffed out in August of 1776 on Long Island if not for a fog bank. And any other number of battles and events.
The Islamic rebels used the exact same guerilla tactics to defeat the Russians and Americans in A-stan. The North Vietnamese did it too. Eventually the imperial powers exhausted and bankrupted themselves and gave up. Successful wars have to be won fast.
Bingo.
We're already seeing that now. Anti-American individuals elected to high offices in the US. The country by and large has a death wish. It's going to happen sooner rather than later.
Yeah.
Maybe it’s an interesting historical review with what ifs, but the title is silly.
Yep - see post 5. IIRC, a fog like that off Long Island was very uncommon.
The French fleet, led by Admiral de Grasse, was crucial to the American victory at Yorktown because it blockaded the Chesapeake Bay after defeating the British fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake.
This naval victory prevented the British from evacuating or resupplying General Cornwallis’s army, trapping him on land. The fleet also transported troops to reinforce the American-French forces besieging Yorktown.
Key roles of the French fleet at Yorktown
Naval blockade: Admiral de Grasse’s fleet arrived in the Chesapeake Bay before a British fleet, preventing the British from using the sea to rescue Cornwallis. The subsequent Battle of the Chesapeake on September 5, 1781, resulted in a decisive French victory, ensuring the British could not receive reinforcements or evacuate by sea.
Reinforcements: The French fleet carried 3,000 troops that were added to the combined American and French forces fighting on land.
Land siege: With the British naval threat neutralized, General Washington and General Rochambeau were able to move their armies to Yorktown to begin the siege in late September.
Strategic importance: The French navy’s role was critical to the success of the siege, as the American Continental Army had no navy capable of challenging the British Royal Navy at sea.
The war in the Philippines although we eventually gave them independence in 1945.
I think he would have just given up that commission.
Yes, Many times.
Plausibly, Britain could have won the war by a strategy of strangling the colonial economy. In addition, even after independence was declared, political concessions could have been offered instead of attempting to quell the Americans through costly military force that risked a loss in the field.
Lots of things came togehter in almost spiritual ways...
The consensus among hard left wing historians seems to be trying to completely re-make the Revolutionary War into actually the first World War/global war. They want this really really badly, apparently so badly they can taste it. That is:
(WWI = actually WW2)
(WWII = actually WW3)
The left historians seek so badly to entirely erase the American Revolution that gave birth to the Revolutionary War and thus the Founding itself. Transforming the narrative to a global one further obfuscates, abstracts, and omits the Founding Fathers, so this end result at least makes sense why they desire it so badly.
Nobody denies French and other involvement. These are two separate things.
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