The Revolutionary War: Tale of the Tape

    

    Prior to posting my final argument, that the United States is entering a third revolutionary period due to radical politics, I felt it necessary and important to briefly address the reasoning behind the success and failure of the two prior attempts at revolution. 

First, the successful revolution of the British North American Colonies versus the British Empire!

The Revolutionary War
Tale of the Tape

	Colonists	British Empire	Explanation
Home Field /Geography			Colonists had the advantage of knowing the land they were fighting.  This is a great advantage in warfare. *Colonies held a vast land area, much too large for the British to control all territory militarily.
Communication			The Atlantic Ocean became an ally to the colonists as communications could take up to and over a month for the British.[1]
Leadership			The British had some of the best military officers in the world.  Famed officers such as Cornwallis, Clinton, Howe, Burgoyne came to dispatch the colonists.
Military			The British Military was well trained, well supplied, and seemingly unbeatable.  Their military was a intimidating force.
Navy			The British Navy was a force to be admired.  This advantage was checked upon intervention by the French Navy.
Funding			The British easily raised funds for the military.  Funding allowed them to hire mercenaries (Hessian) to fight in the war.
Native American Allies			The promise of the British to protect tribal lands made the decision a no-brainer for  MOST Indian Tribes to side with the British.
Attitude			The Americans were fighting for a cause, something they could see… liberty, independence, etc.  The Spirit of 76' drove the colonists.
Homeland Moral Support			This is up in the air for debate.  The British felt pressure from home as the war become more expensive and to some, unnecessary. The Colonial attitude became more positive toward independence as the war dragged on.
Fighting Style			The British, if fighting a traditional war, would get the check mark.  But, the colonists used guerrilla warfare and nontraditional tactics which the British did not adapt to.
Over-Confidence			Similar to the mentality of the Union Army in the Civil War, the British though they would easily dispatch the colonials, this became a strategic and costly mistake.
Supplies			The colonists were constantly under-supplied, under-funded, and under-armed.  This is evident at numbers of disease and starvation deaths.
Important Allies			Although the British gained assistance from the Indian Tribes and Loyalists, the American Colonists gained the greatest and most important ally, France.

    The British North American Colonists had a few critical advantages that aided to their success.  The superior knowledge of the land, sheer size of the colonies, usage of non-traditional military tactics such as guerrilla warfare, support of France, and spirit of fighting for a cause led the colonists to draw out the war and force the British to cease their attempts to put down the rebellion.  Also, although the British maintained control of many of the major cities in the colonies, they never gained a strong foothold in the geography of the colonies.  These advantages along with the pressure from English citizens and Parliament to stop the war, seeing it as unnecessary and a drain on an economy already trying to recover from the Seven Years War, created the environment that enabled success for the colonists. 

Have other insight into the reasoning behind the success of the colonists or failures of the British Empire? Comment your thoughts, add to the discussion!

Interested for more?
History Channel: The Revolutionary War

Next, we will look at the tale of the tape of the failed confederate revolution, the Civil War.

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[1] Dr. Peter Van Cleave, “The War in the North”, Arizona State University. Lecture.