After most of 10 years of fighting, it became clear to Britain that far more money was being spent in the war than could be obtained in a peace that might never arise. So a peace was signed.
True, but also the French invested quite a bit of money into supporting the Americans (and exacting revenge for the F&I war, which some claim also hastened the downfall of the French Monarchy after the peace was signed and the Americans lacked the means of paying back their loans.
And when Lexington and Concorde occurred, there was reportedly only about a week's supply of gunpowder in New York and the rest of the colonies lacked sufficient weaponry (armies needed muskets, not specialized rifles).
In July, 1775, the Committee of Safety in New York wrote: "We have no arms, we have no powder, we have no blankets." (W. G. Sumner, The Financier and the Finances of the A merican Revolution, i, 107.) This was still the condition in every part of the United States, and it was for this reason that the necessity was so great of obtaining supplies abroad. The quality of the stores sent from France was occasionally criticized; doubtless some of the powder was poor and some of the guns were defective, but they were vastly superior to anything that could be had on this side of the water.
americanrevolution.org
In fact, you should read the rest of these links related to French participation in the American Revolution.
Then you can read about Spanish participation. It seems both Kingdoms had it in for Britain and felt aiding the rebellious colonialists was something that could only assist their own cause (and imperialism).
getnet.com
Long before Spain declared war on Britain, the colonials received aid from the peninsula. In 1776 spain dispatched one of its largest fleets to the Americas, where it smashed British smuggling operations along the Brazilian coast and took Uruguay from the Portuguese,
who were Britain's allies.
americanrevolution.org
One of the greatest impacts of the Spanish navy was keeping the English in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico from reinforcing Cornwallis at Yorktown October 1781.
Carl, you have to think about the tremendous political coup it was when France and the US signed an alliance in 1778. Much of the population in the colonies were loyalists, or fence-sitters. But there's no doubt that having French and Spanish support convinced many of these loyalists to submit to the Patriotic cause, or flee to Canada.
There's no doubt that the British were over-extended, but you should take into account how much of this was due to the pressure placed upon their limited resources by the French and Spanish activities in the Caribbean and elsewhere.
So yes.. after 10 years the British were tired and saw no end to the war.. But within the first couple of years, the war was VERY MUCH an unsure thing. Had France and Spain rejected any assistance to the Continental Congress, or had Franklin's mission to France not been as successful, it's quite likely that the Loyalists would have overwhelmed the Patriots.
I can see your point of view, but I really find it difficult to underestimate the tremendous shot in the arm to the Patriotic cause it was to obtain French and Spanish support. Without it, morale would likely have sank to a low-ebb as inflation took hold and the economy suffered.
Hawk |
