American History: Revolutionary War
The Revolutionary War
The Revolutionary War that lasted between 1775 and 1783 was a major step towards the self-independence of the United States. The war began as a result of the battle between British troops and the colonists' military who were based in Lexington and Concord in early 1775. The war was sparked by the tough imperial reins, the land policy that prohibited colonists from settling in the West, and the passing of Coercive Acts by the British government. The colonists decided to engage in war to chase away the British settlers and their government. However, while the British military was more equipped from the resources the government had gathered from the colonists, the American war men had more advantages that made them triumph in the Revolutionary War as will be examined in this paper.
The first advantage that the colonists' military had over the British troops was the ambush tactic of fighting. The patriots had good knowledge of the geographical areas where the battles took place. The soldiers would hide behind walls and trees and emerge when the British troops were close enough to attack. Thus, the colonists' forces would kill several hostile troops before they could reorganize to counter the attack. The American war men did not lose many soldiers, so they kept organizing such ambushes killing many British over the years of war.
The second advantage that the colonists possessed was the allies they had from France, Netherlands, and Spain. These countries were interested in Britain’s attenuation, which meant direct partnership with the US. They supplied guns and other materials to the US military as well as joined the war against the British troops. The French coalesced with the US and declared war on England which led to the great victory at Yorktown. Also, Netherlands began the war against the British forces leading to constraints on the army. Consequently, the British army had to be sent to the Netherlands, the US, and other countries that had declared war against Britain’s rule. That meant there was less army sent to the US to fight against the colonists' troops hence creating perfect war conditions for patriots’ army.
The third advantage was that Britain did not have its own large army, therefore, hired the foreign army. The mercenary army was not very loyal to the British government and did not fight in the war with full determination, unlike the colonists' troops who were determined to gain independence. Moreover, the presence of the foreign army in the war further angered the Americans (including those who were still loyal to England) and considered the fact that the British government was sending other troops to fight them as a complete disrespect to the enemy. As a result, that made some loyalists join the colonists' troops to oppose the foreign army.
The final advantage was the distance that was one of the most painful problems to England. Britain was 3000 miles away from America, which meant that it could take a ship to sail for a minimum of three weeks to reach the New World. After the exhausting trip when the soldiers were already haggard, they would have to wait for about a month to get reinforcement while the American troops could conscript new men within hours. Furthermore, the British troops also ran short of food and war equipment because of the far source. That was a great disadvantage to the British troops but an enormous benefit to the American military that could use that situation and fight a hunger-weakened army.
Concisely, it is, therefore, clear that the colonists won the war because of the advantages they enjoyed over the British troops such as the ambush tactic of fighting, support and entry into the war by the allies, the use of disloyal foreign army by British, and the distance that complicated the transportation of the British army and its resources. While those factors boosted the colonists' military, it disadvantaged the British army, consequently leading to their defeat in the war and independence of the United States of America.
