The loss of the American colonies by the British is one of the 4 examples in Barbara Tuchman's excellent "The March of Folly." Any taxes collected by the British paled in comparison to the revenue lost when the colonies became independent. I've always wondered if the slavery issue could have been peaceably settled had we remained a British colony.
It's a fascinating topic. The Brits abolished slavery about 30 years ahead of the U.S., IIRC, and did so without massive bloodshed.
Although the War Between the States was about far more than slavery, as any real student of our history knows....
I tend to think of the Revolutionary War the way I think of all the insane adventurism the U.S. Empire has engaged in for so long now. The locals, whatever their deficiencies, have far superior morale, sense of purpose, and knowledge of weather, geography, etc. They don't need to win every battle, or even ONE battle. They just need to make the occupiers pay so high a price, the folks back home bail on the whole enterprise, no matter how much "face" is lost.
It helps to have some foreign assistance, of course -- which is why I will FOREVER be a fan of France. Liberté, égalité, fraternité! (Any country that embraces dogs, smoking, chocolate, open marriages, and rudeness can't be all bad.)
The loss of the American colonies by the British is one of the 4 examples in Barbara Tuchman's excellent "The March of Folly." Any taxes collected by the British paled in comparison to the revenue lost when the colonies became independent. I've always wondered if the slavery issue could have been peaceably settled had we remained a British colony.
It's a fascinating topic. The Brits abolished slavery about 30 years ahead of the U.S., IIRC, and did so without massive bloodshed.
Although the War Between the States was about far more than slavery, as any real student of our history knows....
I tend to think of the Revolutionary War the way I think of all the insane adventurism the U.S. Empire has engaged in for so long now. The locals, whatever their deficiencies, have far superior morale, sense of purpose, and knowledge of weather, geography, etc. They don't need to win every battle, or even ONE battle. They just need to make the occupiers pay so high a price, the folks back home bail on the whole enterprise, no matter how much "face" is lost.
It helps to have some foreign assistance, of course -- which is why I will FOREVER be a fan of France. Liberté, égalité, fraternité! (Any country that embraces dogs, smoking, chocolate, open marriages, and rudeness can't be all bad.)