Causes of the Revolutionary War from the British Viewpoint
History is written by the victors. Since America won the Revolutionary War, United States history explains and interprets the war and its causes from an ethnocentric view. Had the war been won by the British, the views would be quite different. Both countries often threaten the other; at other times they were conciliatory. The causes for the Revolutionary War are well documented from an American perspective. But what about the British perspective? This paper will assess and analyze the causes of the Revolutionary War from the British viewpoint. Encouraged by successful wars in the Americans, Africa, and India, English leaders imagined a new sort of empire. Instead of the freely governed commercial organization of the past, they promoted centralized supervision by Parliament. Responding to resulting American displeasure, Lord Halifax declared, the colonists feel "entitled to a greater measure of Liberty than is enjoyed by the people of England." In Britain, the French and Indian War created a vast debt. This impelled King George III and his administrators to further the English fiscal and military state of the colonies. Parliament swiftly substituted salutary neglect -- that had emphasized trade and local self-government -- with the imperial system -- that focused on taxation and regulation. English generals and colonial leaders differed on military policy. The existence of 10,000 English troops on American soil exposed strong cultural dissimilarities. The war also uncovered the ineptitude of the royal authority. Governors had broad political power, as well as control of the colonial militia; but they shared authority with the colonial assembles, which infuriated English representatives. By positioning an army within the colonies, the English indicated its willingness to suppress Indians, as well as disobedient colonist. When George Grenville became prime minister in 1763, England was deep in debt and English citizens were providing more than four
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