Reasons for United States Victory in American Revolution Free Essay Example

Although the British Army was the most powerful army in the world at the time, their tactics and strategies were not enough to defeat the colonists in the American Revolution. Both the Colonists and the British had their advantages and disadvantages to one another when it came to fighting a well-fought war. The British had the men and the training that it took to win a war, but a war like this one is won with strategy, not with the number of men.

The Americans consisted of about roughly 20,000 men, which was less than half of the British who consisted of about 42,000 men and thousands of other German men. The statistics of men comparatively looked like the British could have easily won the Revolution, and they knew they had an advantage but they took what they had and used it against themselves. The main reasons to fight between the Colonists and the British were completely different. The Americans were fighting for their freedom, something that could cost them everything and change everything about America.

The United States would not be the same today if it was not for the Revolution. To make things even better for the Colonists they were fighting on their own soil, fighting people who did not care about their freedom so the drive to independence was something that really made the Colonists fight that much harder. The British were taxing the Colonists which they did not agree with, and they were fighting for the resources that they could have from gaining the American land.

They were still motivated, but not nearly as much as the Americans were. They were fighting a war away from home which led to many disadvantages one being that supplies took up to months to reach them, they were forced to be frugal with what they had at hand. Many soldiers died from lack of nutrition and medicine to heal from wounds. The war was fought so quickly that by the time the supplies reached them they would have already died because they did not receive the correct treatment when they needed it. The colonist determination to win the war for independence is one factor that came into defeating the British. Washington really kept his Amy together and kept good communication, which is something the British were lacking.

Communication between the British was not well because messages sometimes took weeks to deliver back to who was in charge for help or where to go next. They did not get along with each other as the Americans did, the Americans worked together to figure out what would benefit them. Washington winning the battle of Trenton and Princeton was very significant, considering the British had the perfect opportunity to capture New York but failed due to lack of communication and poor planning. This only made the Americans stronger. From each defeat the British seemed to get weaker and weaker, they did not have as much on the line as the Americans did. Because the Colonists were fighting on their own land, they knew every hill and valley that they could make a base out of. The British on the other hand had no idea how the land was laid out and what was ever going to come next. They knew this going in but because they consisted of more men and help from the Germans, they thought they were going to be fine. They were not defending much of anything besides the fact that the thought they needed the land for crops and to tax the Colonists more, so their motivation was lacking.

One of the main reasons that the Americans won the Revolution was the Franco-American alliance. The French were a major asset to the victory. The French supplied the Americans with supplies and most importantly the Navy, which was much needed at the time. This also changed the way the British could use their troops, they knew about the Navy and they knew they could not throw as many troops at the Americans like they were doing previously. Although the British did have the Germans as allies they were not nearly as much help to them as the French were to the Colonists. They were unorganized, and not prepared. Without the help of the French, the Americans would not have won the Revolution. After the British continually fighting battles and loosing they finally Surender in 1777 at the Battle of Saratoga, making this battle the turning point of the war. The Americans were still strong at this point with many victories behind them, and this only weakened the British to make them want to give up. The British now realized that the tactics they had been using previously that were a success, were not the same tactics they should have used in this war.

Everything came to an end at the Battle of Yorktown in Virginia in 1781. The British were outnumbered by less than half, and they no longer had any more confidence that they were going to win the Revolution. Cornwallis, who was the Commander for the British, pushed his troops inwards because they were short on supplies. Washington knew that this was not a smart move for the British, so he sent his troops in and the British could not recover. This was the final battle of the war, and the Americans came out on top with a hard-fought victory over the British. Considering the fact that before the Revolution the British were always the strongest army in the world, the Americans not only defeated them in battle but also defeated their reputation and their confidence. The British were very confident going into the Revolution because, in the beginning, the British outnumbered the Americans. The British soon realized after their few losses that is takes more than just men to win the war, it takes strategy, skill, an driving reason to win. The Americans did just that, they fought for their Independence and were not going to let anyone stand in the way.

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