How did Great Britain (World Power) Lose to a bunch of hillbillies?

[Rebel_General]

I'm not Canadian, and I realize that Canada was more or less British at the time, but regardless of allegiance, it was the forces loyal to the British from Canada, and to a lesser extent from Britain that burned down the Whitehouse.

It was the British Army and the Royal Navy. Y'all don't have a clue about this period of history.

[Welter_Skelter]

I'm not Canadian, and I realize that Canada was more or less British at the time, but regardless of allegiance, it was the forces loyal to the British from Canada, and to a lesser extent from Britain that burned down the Whitehouse.

But see Now me being Canadian.. I know a bit about Canadian history..

in 1812 .. if you asked a person from Upper Canada.. which was the English speaking part.. what they were.. They would say they were British.. The concept of being a Canadian was something the dirty French of Lower Canada
considered themselves ..or as they called it.. "Canadien" .. The French having been conquered by the Birtish.. would never consider themselves British.. which is why even today.. they still piss and moan like they living under military rule..

When The Americans tried to Invade Canada.. they did not try to invade lower Canada.. they went after British Canada.. That was the political seat.. that was the enemy..The Union Jack was Flying high there.. taxes were payed to the Crown

[Rebel_General]

Spoken like a true brit. You guys got your asses handed to you on a silver platter, stop pretending like you could have won.

Britain could have won, but failed to crush the rebellion early on. After the entrance of other European powers into the war they had no chance, and had other valuable territories to defend.

Many of the Brits were against war with the colonies, as the Revolution was rooted in British revolutionary/republican tradition.

[Miburo]

Because France entered the war on the side of the colonies. Something most Americans would love to forget it seems.

[street bully]

But see Now me being Canadian.. I know a bit about Canadian history..

in 1812 .. if you asked a person from Upper Canada.. which was the English speaking part.. what they were.. They would say they were British.. The concept of being a Canadian was something the dirty French of Lower Canada
considered themselves ..or as they called it.. "Canadien" .. The French having been conquered by the Birtish.. would never consider themselves British.. which is why even today.. they still piss and moan like they living under military rule..

When The Americans tried to Invade Canada.. they did not try to invade lower Canada.. they went after British Canada.. That was the political seat.. that was the enemy..The Union Jack was Flying high there.. taxes were payed to the Crown

You more or less summed up exactly what I meant. I realize that they considered them self British at the time, but regardless of what they called themselves at the time it was the Canadians under the union Jack who did most of the fighting with aid from the British.

[Rebel_General]

You more or less summed up exactly what I meant. I realize that they considered them self British at the time, but regardless of what they called themselves at the time it was the Canadians under the union Jack who did most of the fighting with aid from the British.

Someone has been taken in by a militia myth.




Read some proper books on this subject before you unleash your opinions in public.

[Welter_Skelter]

You more or less summed up exactly what I meant. I realize that they considered them self British at the time, but regardless of what they called themselves at the time it was the Canadians under the union Jack who did most of the fighting with aid from the British.

Except what I am trying to say is. "Canadian's" did not exist at that point..

An American Born In Germany.. to American parents on a military base .. which is considered American Soil.. will be an American at the time of Birth NOT German..

This was Not a geographical war.. it was a political war.. Where the war was waged is unimportant.. Who was fighting it.. is what we are discussing..

It was America VS the crown of England..

[Mugwump]

Many of the Brits were against war with the colonies, as the Revolution was rooted in British revolutionary/republican tradition.

This is an important point. During the war there were furious exchanges in the Houses of Parliament between the government and opposition (and even the government and members of its own party!). A very large number of MPs thought Britain couldn't claim to value freedom whilst denying such to America. It's the reason Britain was so half-hearted in its approach to the war and ultimately withdrew.

And America was hardly a nation of hillbillies. Indeed, in some areas it held significant technological advantages over Britain i.e. guns. American guns were the first to implement barrel rifling, which meant they were more accurate and had a greater range. Relative to today this would equate to one side flying prop driven aircraft whilst the other enjoyed the use of jet fighters.

[squealpiggy]

Once the Brits began to launch their assaults from Canada.. things changed.. at one point even the White house got Burned down.. The British didn't defeat the Americans .. But neither did the Americans beat The British.. which is why Canada still has the Queen on it's Money..

That was the War of 1812 though, I think the total drip who started this topic is referring to the Revolutionary War. The Yanks did quite well at sea in the war of 1812.

Wikipedia. Come on!

Wikipedia is an incredible resource when viewed with a discriminating eye. It does a very good job of disseminating information from a variety of sources and is the best starting point available when looking for general information on a subject. Just because there are subjects in which it is completely unreliable (generally due to those subjects being politically volatile) doesn't mean that it should be entirely dismissed as a source of information. Viewed critically it is awesome, and if you are really genuinely interested in verifying something viewed on the site then check their sources.

Spoken like a true brit. You guys got your asses handed to you on a silver platter, stop pretending like you could have won.

Anybody who has made even a cursory examination of the facts of the Revolutionary war knows that the British could have crushed the rebellion if they chose to so direct the resources. Jingositically pumping your fist is not going to change history.

And America was hardly a nation of hillbillies. Indeed, in some areas it held significant technological advantages over Britain i.e. guns. American guns were the first to implement barrel rifling, which meant they were more accurate and had a greater range. Relative to today this would equate to one side flying prop driven aircraft whilst the other enjoyed the use of jet fighters.

Close - the rifle was known to the British, indeed it was invented in the 1700s by a Brit. The trouble is they were too expensive to manufacture for mass use (such as by regular soldiers), were less easy to use, took longer to reload and had to be cleaned after firing. Given the lowly status of regular soldiers at the time (in all armies) the brass simply wouldn't want to train the rank and file. They were used by specialized marksmen and by hunters, hence the American militias had more of them than the British regulars.

[Mugwump]

It's also worth mentioning that in many cases the British were fighting against British immigrants, or men whose fathers, grandfathers or great grandfathers were British.

More a civil war than nation against nation and this is the reason so many Brits at home were against it.