“So, how did other colonies bootstrap themselves to success?”
Most didn’t. That is why the carribean is a mix of dependencies, overseas territories, depends on tourism, and otherwise communist s*itholes.
It isn’t “making excuses” as if this is a child that got an F on a test because they didn’t study.
Try reading history once in a while. Not everyone becomes a success like the US. We are not the default setting for this planet.
What about Bermuda?????