The Miracle of American Independence: Twenty Ways Things Could Have Turned Out Differently PDF
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the miracle of american independence The Mir acle of A m e r i c a n I n d e pe n d e n c e twenty ways things could have turned out differently jonathan r. dull potomac books An imprint of the University of Nebraska Press © 2015 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska All rights reserved. Potomac Books is an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. Manufactured in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Dull, Jonathan R., 1942– author. The miracle of American independence: twenty ways things could have turned out differently / Jonathan R. Dull. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 1- 61234- 767- 7 (pbk.: alk. paper) ISBN 978- 1- 61234- 780- 6 (epub) ISBN 978- 1- 61234- 781- 3 (mobi) ISBN 978- 1- 61234- 782- 0 (pdf) 1. United States— History— Revolution, 1775–1783. I. Title. E208.D85 2015 973.3— dc23 2015024062 Set in Lyon Text by L. Auten. contents Preface . . vii PART 1. Seven Ways the British Might Have Averted American Independence 1. Britain Could Have Continued to Accept America’s Partial Autonomy . . 3 2. There Might Have Been a Peaceful Resolution of the Colonial Rivalry of 1748– 1755 . . 11 3. The War of 1755 Could Have Ended in a Quick British Victory . . 20 4. The French Could Have Won the War . . 29 5. The British Army Could Have Withdrawn from the American Frontier . . 38 6. The British Government Might Have Learned a Lesson from the Stamp Act Fiasco . . 46 7. The British Might Have Avoided War with the American Colonies . . 54 PART 2. Twelve Ways the British Could Have Overcome American Independence 8. American Resistance Might Have Been Fatally Weakened during 1775 . . 63 9. The Seven Years’ War Could Have Permanently Weakened the French Navy . . 70 10. The British Might Have Accepted France’s Pleas for Better Relations . . 78 11. King Louis XVI Could Have Refused to Arm the Americans . . 85 12. The British Might Have Crushed the Continental Army . . 91 13. Louis XVI Could Have Pulled Back from War . . 97 14. Spain Might Not Have Joined the War . . 107 15. Spain Might Have Made Peace with Britain . . 113 16. The British Might Have Captured West Point . . 119 17. A Financial Collapse Could Have Doomed the Revolution . . 122 18. The Allies Might Not Have Achieved the Cooperation Needed for Victory . . 127 19. The Peace Treaty Could Have Left the United States Too Weak to Survive . . 134 PART 3. The Way the United States Could Have Lost Its Independence 20. The American Union Might Not Have Lasted . . 147 Notes . . 151 Index . . 177 preface I n the long run, American independence was not a mir- acle. The inhabitants of what is now the eastern half of the United States were so rapidly multiplying and the land they inhabited was so distant from Great Britain that eventually they would have become independent. The early timing of that independence and its huge extent, both polit- ical and territorial, however, do seem miraculous or close to it. The American Revolution might have been indefinitely postponed had British leaders been wiser or Americans less suspicious of them; I will discuss seven ways the revolution might have been averted. Once hostilities began, the Brit- ish might have forced Americans back into obedience or at least forced them to accept less independence or less terri- tory; I will examine a dozen turning points. These two sec- tions are closely linked by a common theme: the disastrous results of British ignorance and arrogance. Finally I will look at the postwar fate of American independence. There, of course, could be far more than twenty chapters in this book, because there are many things that could have happened differently. For example, the warship Reprisal sank during a storm on its return voyage from taking Benjamin Franklin to France in 1776; it could easily have happened during its voyage to France. How then did I make my selec- tion? Partly it was on the basis on how possible it was that things could have happened other than they did, although in some cases (for example, chapter 7), the likelihood of a different outcome was small. Partly it was on the basis of the significance of a different outcome, although the stakes involved were not equally crucial; American independence might have survived a different outcome to the events in chapter 16, for example. As I wish to reach nonspecialists in the field, I also have selected topics that are not only impor- tant but also interesting for general readers (and in some cases relatively unfamiliar). I have paid particular attention to having the chapters flow into each other so as to form a unified narrative. I hope it will be a stimulating introduc- tion or reintroduction to one of the most exciting periods in American and European history I have drawn on my nearly fifty years of research and writ- ing on the American Revolution and its “parent,” the Seven Years’ War (or, as it is frequently called in the United States, the French and Indian War). I have written seven previous books on French, British, and American history. The present book is a mixture of these national histories, the only way to do full justice to such a complex and interesting subject. I could not have written it without the support of my wonder- ful wife, Susan, and children, Max, Anna, Rob, and Veron- ica. I dedicate it to the memory of a wonderful man, my late father- in- law, Dr. Stanley Kruger. viii Preface the miracle of american independence
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