Why Britain lost the American Revolution?

Answer 1

The British were defeated because they were used to fighting in European style were two sides on a field of battle. The Americans fought commando style where they hid behind trees and bushes to fire on the enemy. They also did not put their heart and soul into the war. Many of their soldiers were Hessians who were mercenaries. The Americans knew the territory and they were defending their homes so they had more at stake.

Answer 2

because they thought they would win easily because they were trained better and then they got beat for being to cocky

Another reason is because the colonists won the battles of Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, Yorktown, and Trenton. The British also stood out in the open during battle while the colonists hid behind rocks and trees, leaving themselves in the path of bullets and cannonballs.

Answer 3

The American Revolution was mainly fought for six long years between 1775 and 1781, with several more years of minor conflicts and diplomatic interactions. Great Britain lost this drawn-out affair mostly because pf the following reasons: American persistence, American military excellence, and European aid to the American cause.

Answer 4

The British got surrounded by the Americans and surrendered. So yes the British lost.

2nd Answerer says: True Grit. 1. The British was fighting a war overseas.

2. The American army knew the land.

3. The British tried to split the colonies in two but failed.

4. The Americans were fighting with a cause and the British weren't
While greatly outmatching the fledgling America in terms of soldiers and weaponry, the social climate was against Britain from the beginning, and morale was the key to winning the revolution. Distance was another deciding factor, as speed of response is a huge tactical advantage in war. Several minor problems also contributed to the downfall of the British - the American's knowledge of terrain, the clever Propaganda of Thomas Paine, inciting rebel factions across the continent. The Americans had full public support on their side, including immediate access to resources. The British had huge, slow supply lines and a bad reputation, and they had earned few allies by use of restrictive laws and military force in troublesome spots such as Boston.

Britain could stand little more economic loss; after fighting against the French to the north, and keeping control of their far-flung colonies the loss of America - part of the essential trade route that ran from Europe to the Caribbean to America - was a top priority. This route brought in a great deal of money for British importers and exporters, shipping new luxury goods such as rum and molasses back to Europe for consumption, and then European made goods to the Americas for frontier use. The loss of the tariffs the British government had placed on these trade routes, as well as the loss of a major sector of the economy would be shattering to the British empire.

While the British government and merchant class would have understood the reasons for war, the lower class - with only limited profit from the trade routes - would have seen little need for it; as far as the poor were concerned, it was another frivolous use of money that could have been used to improve the socio-economic situation of Britain, rather than keeping another unruly colony in line. On the American side, the revolution must have seemed much more immediate, as the fighting was much closer. While many Americans may have been ambivalent about independence, the mismanagement of the citizens of Boston - with the harsh Intolerable Acts - more and more people felt threatened by a government with little perspective of American problems and desires. Coupled with Thomas Paine's inflammatory articles, the sense of injustice rallied many Americans behind the rebel flag.

While the Americans had fewer starting resources, their access to them was much more immediate than the British supply lines. Where Americans were able to create much of what they needed on location, the British were forced to wait three months for supplies to arrive. American operations were easier to carry out, as even loyalists had little love for the German mercenaries employed by Britain, while a large segment of the population supported the rebels' efforts. The German mercenaries, fighting for gold rather than freedom were also - despite their training - less fierce fighters, they simply didn't have the same level of motivation as the Americans: a cornered animal always fights more fiercely.

This combination of apathy in Britain, distrust in America, and the horde of location-related problems the British had in the New World grew to an overwhelming point. Further, the revolution had become more than an army - it was a concept held in the heart of the general populace - the Intolerable Acts had marked the British as oppressors; and it was impossible for the British to destroy that idea. More than the difficulty in getting supplies, more than the lack of motivation of their soldiers, more than the contrary wishes of the British populace, the war was lost because the British tried to kill a concept with force.

Answer 5

One reason is because Britian's army supplies was much less than America's.

One reason is because Britian's army supplies was much less than America's.

Right... So colonial rebels had more supplies than the one of the world's 2 (the other being France) most powerful Empires? Get real.

The actual answer?... Well the one and only reason: France.

They brought supplies, soldiers, allies (such as Spain), they prevented the Russians from assisting Britain.

Answer 6

Although the British had more money and a better army than the Americans, they made many dumb mistakes. These mistakes plus the American advantage of fighting on their homeland and having a reason to fight led to British defeat.

Answer 7

The intervention of France on behalf of the American revolutionaries was the key to the American victory. As an example, without the French fleet cutting off the rescue mission to evacuate British forces at Yorktown, the war would have continued. Also, at Yorktown, Washington's army was reinforced with French troops.

Answer 8

The British were defeated because they were used to fighting in European style were two sides on a field of battle. The Americans fought commando style where they hid behind trees and bushes to fire on the enemy. They also did not put their heart and soul into the war. Many of their soldiers were Hessians who were mercenaries. The Americans knew the territory and they were defending their homes so they had more at stake.

Answer 9

It is a miracle that they didn't. But I believe it is mainly because France entered on America's side.