‘Merica, or Nah? An Exploration of Unpatriotic “What Ifs”

Below is the first of the class response papers written by our students about what they have learned about British Counterinsurgency.  Today's writing prompt:

What should the British have done differently in order to win the American Revolution?  Focus on 2 things.

Enjoy!

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As a red-blooded American, there are few things I hold as sacred as Independence Day, the anniversary of the Greatest Divorce Paper of all time. Today is rather ironic for me, as this year I am celebrating July Fourth in the Mother Country of England while studying abroad. So, there is no better way to continue this theme than by playing devil’s advocate and brainstorming just what the British Empire could have done to retain the American Colonies back in 1775-1783. I believe the two main changes the British should have made to keep the colony were:

1. Run a strong propaganda campaign to generate greater public support for the war within Great Britain.
2. Choose stronger leadership and promote better communication between British officials coordinating the war efforts.

First, the British should have been more diligent about generating support for the continued opposition of the American rebels back in Britain. The Revolutionary War was very controversial in continental Britain, as many Whigs viewed the American struggle as an extension of their own against overwhelming royal power.¹ The Evening Post in London even called the war “unnatural, unconstitutional, unnecessary, unjust, dangerous, hazardous, and unprofitable” while one member of Parliament sad it was “a butchery of his fellow subjects, to which his conscience forbade him to give his consent.” ¹ 

Figure 1.- Franklin, B. (1754) Join or Die [Online image]. 
Retrieved July 4, 2016 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Join,_or_Die 

Moreover, the Americans successfully distributed pamphlets such as Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, which successfully persuaded Americans, British, and French to sympathize with the rebels and support the revolutionary cause. The Americans also distributed political cartoons and propaganda to garner support, such as Join or Die by Benjamin Franklin (Figure 1).

Creating a more positive perception of the war against America would have improved the British people’s “will to win”. This would make the cost in lives and money spent much more acceptable to the British people. The British had the resources to continue the war even after the Battle of Yorktown, so with popular support they may have kept fighting long after they eventually surrendered.

Figure 2. – Soldi, A. (1762-1765) Portrait of General Clinton 
[Online image].  Retrieved July 4, 2016 from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Clinton_
(British_Army_officer,_born_1730) 

Secondly, the British should have improved their communication and leadership structure in order to keep the American colonies. For example, there was no cohesive policy on how to treat American citizens. General Clinton had said that the British should be attempting “to gain the hearts and subdue the minds of America”, but General Tarleton was known to “strike fear into the inhabitants”, believing that the Americans needed to be beaten into submission.¹  Better communication and creating a single policy on how to treat the American citizens may have been very beneficial to the British.

By observing the successful British counterinsurgency attempt in the Malayan Emergency, one can see that the British should have reorganized their leadership when it stopped being effective. The Malayan Emergency “illustrates superbly the value of energy and charisma in winning support from both government personnel and the population at large.”²

While it is true that the British could have tremendously improved their war effort, I think many Americans and Britons alike are thankful they did not. After all, both countries have done splendidly on their own and we have hamburgers, country music, and iPhones as a result of this particular divorce. So, to my Americans back home, eat some watermelon and light some fireworks for me. Happy Independence Day, friends!

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1 Boot, Max. 2013. Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare From Ancient Times to the Present. New York: Liveright Publishing. Chapter 14: The American Hornets. ^↩ 
2 Moyar, Mark. 2009. A Question of Command: Counterinsurgency from the Civil War to Iraq. New Haven: Yale University Press. Chapter 6: The Malayan Emergency.^↩