Student Question
What was the British perspective on the American Revolution?
Quick answer:
The British perspective on the American Revolution was complex. Initially, Britain viewed its governance of the colonies as benevolent, especially after protecting them during the Seven Years War. Economic concerns, such as the need to tax the colonies, played a significant role, but Britain's overestimation of Loyalist support and underestimation of colonial resistance led to military defeat. Today, the British see the revolution as a minor uprising linked to King George's incompetence, with no lasting resentment over U.S. independence.
The American Revolution (1775–1783) severed the bonds between the thirteen colonies and Britain. Britain had thought its rule of the thirteen colonies was benevolent. It had protected the Americans from the French during the Seven Years War (1756–1763), and it thought the Americans should help pay for that war.
London's relationship with its colonies had always been largely based on economics. Britain and the thirteen colonies had engaged in a profitable trading relationship for more than a century. In 1775, a group of British merchants expressed their concern about a potential loss of business in the event of war.
Economic concerns also weighed heavily on London's decision-making in the years before the war. The British government wanted to increase its revenue by taxing the colonists. The Americans resented all of these efforts: no taxation without representation was their mantra.
London always exaggerated the number of Loyalists in the colonies. It...
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is difficult to know how many Americans remained loyal to London, but the number was almost always far smaller than the British leaders believed. At the end of the war, many Loyalists moved to Canada.
Increased tension between the sides resulted in the first battle at Lexington and Concord in 1775. By 1781, the British realized that they had no chance of winning against the thirteen colonies. It decided to end the war in order to protect other British interests. Therefore, the status of the thirteen colonies became a collateral matter to London.
References
What are Britain's current views on the American Revolution?
Most British today regard the US War for Independence as a minor uprising—one caused by an incompetent king—for which they always had sympathy for.
This war was part of a larger series of colonial wars at the time. The Seven Years War (called the French and Indian War in the US) was a much larger and more important war only twelve years before. That war doubled England's debt and ended the French colonial occupation in North America. The debt caused England to tax the US colonies, leading to the famous protests of those taxes.
Most English regard King George's incompetence as the cause of the war. Even minor concessions or local autonomy might have prevented the revolt. Very few English could vote at the time, and many working-class English felt a similar lack of power over their daily lives.
There are few who have any resentment for US independence. The US and Britain began cooperating following treaties after the War of 1812. Starting with World War I until today, the US and UK have been close allies.