Our AP History teacher proposed an interesting problem for us to work on, which we finished up today. The challenge was as follows:
You are in charge of Great Britain at the very beginning of the American Revolution. You have the entire power of Britain behind you in your actions. You can pass laws, use/move troops and basically dictate England’s actions throughout the war. How would you best defeat the rebelling American colonists? You must propose the best plan of action via Military, Diplomatic, Economic and Political methods.
So, Teeming Millions, how would you best stifle the American Revolution?
(I know I should post my idea, but I am somewhat pressed for time right now, so I’ll post my ideas soon)
I read a fascinating book a few years back; The Two Georges that posited the idea that the American Revolution never happened because King George accepted a representative of the American Colonists into his Privy Counsel. The whole idea behind the title of the book was that it was George Washington who was the first Privy Counsel member. The Two Georges (from whence the title comes) shows King George accepting George Washington into his Privy Counsel.
The main plot behind the book was that this famous painting was stolen. The rest of the book concerned itself with tracking down the painting.
Err…you concentrate of thwarting the ambitions of the folks shaping up to be possible invaders - as well as having ambitions of Empire - and you also hope the King stops taking his advice from the curtains.
Tell your History teacher you need to concentrate on France and see off Boney in the Peninsular War. Hanging on to the American Colonies would be nice (and I’m sure there will be lots of good ideas forthcoming) but think: ‘Invasion’
Sue for peace in 1763 and leave Canada to the French, thus greatly increasing Bourbon influence on the continent. This will leave rebellion much less palatable, since the colonies will probably prefer the British to the French, all things considered.
Appoint somebody a little more competent than George Grenville as chancellor of the exchequer.
Prevent Parliament from passing the Declaratory Act. Or establish a Dominion status or Commonwealth to keep the American colonies under the Crown. Really, any real move to give the colonies more self-determination may have taken the crucial edge off the independence movement.
Offer the kind of deal proposed by North with his peace commission (under the Earl of Carlisle) in April 1778. Chances are the colonies would have taken up the offer.
Make sure to destroy the French army at Newport.
I tend to see the American victory in the Revolution as a low-probability outcome, at least at the time (eventually it may have been inevitable, of course). As George Washington said, a third of the Americans wanted revolution, a third wanted the King, and a third wanted the others to just let them alone. Despite the many grievances of the American colonists, only a small fraction of the colonial population actually wanted to break away from Britain.
The best way to defeat the colonists would have been to make peace with France thus enabling Britain to concentrate all of its resources on crushing the rebellion. But Britain had other vital intrests at stake that might have prevented such a possibility.
They actually tried that, it didn’t work because they couldn’t get the navy to fire on Rebel positions. (The Navy complained that it had no charts and would get ships stuck, as happened at Fort Mercer)
Bingo. Hessian officers complained bitterly about this
How about: Get a General whose priorities do not included embarassing the gov’t in power back in England.
Don’t wander randomly in Virginia.
Avoid direct assualts on fixed fortifications.
Appreciate your allies (Indian, Hessian, Tory) rather than constantly spitting on them.
If you must spend the winter in New Jersey, try not treating the friendly local Tories as conquered traitors. Don’t place small units in isolated locations where they can be cut off and defeated in detail. Don’t let your mercinary troops indulge in predictable holiday celebrations without first establishing decent security (post a guard or two!).
I hope someone in the class read The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman. She attributes the loss of the colonies to the woodenheadedness of Parliment and the King. Basically, tell the Colonies how much money to raise in taxes and let the local legislatures be the bad guys.
Keep a squadron of ships out of New York Harbour! The French were able to get the advangtage at Yorktown since the British had to drag their ships over Sandy Hook. If the British could have allowed Cornwallis to escape by sea, it would have been devastating to the Continental Army.
Short of surrendering control of the colonies to the Americans, the best solution I think would have been to grant the colonies representation in Parliament, too. However, if you don’t want to do that (our group opted not to) we came up with the following strategy:
Pass a law that states that if any British troops come across a farm/homestead who’s head of the family (aka father) is unaccounted for, due to the fact they were fighting with the Continental Army, they would be considered treasonous towards the crown, the family would be jailed and their land confiscated. This would cause one of two things; the first would be that men leave the Continental Army out of concern for their families, or force the entire family to leave with the Continental Army. Either way, you’ve got a detriment to the Army. Yes, it would make the colonists angry, but they’re the one’s rebelling against the throne and they’re already rather angry already.
Coerce the local tories/loyalists to act as assassins towards key leaders in the Revolution: Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Paine and Franklin would be good starting choices. Lafayette would also be a prime target, due to his monetary contribution as well as military leadership.
Place a small fleet of ships in/off of each major port in order to try to stop any French supplies from reaching the revolutionaries.
Reinforce Boston with approximately another 15,000-20,000 troops. Have them flank at Bunker Hill (instead of the “We’re the British Army, let’s make an example and crush them” tactic), then once the rebels have been defeated there, make a march on Philadelphia. Siege Philadelphia from land and sea in order to try and seize the Continental Congress. Once Philadelphia is seized, have several members of Parliament come to America to set up as the commanders of the war. Thus, instead of having to wait for orders from England to arrive by boat, the orders would be issued from Philadelphia which is highly beneficial to the Redcoats.
Perhaps before putting small fleets in all the harbors, send an armada to the West Indies to take any remaining French isles from them. Since the defeat at Yorktown was made possible by 28 ships under Degrasse which was bound from the West Indies. Once seized, possibly offer the isles to Spain in return for neutrality in the war. If the offer is accepted, the French would be occupied with the Spanish in the West Indies, and the fleet which was to assist at Yorktown would never have arrived.
In Georgia, fight guerilla warfare with guerilla warfare. Instead of sending in standard armies against the “Swamp Fox”, send in specially trained troops to fight against them. This will greatly decrease the number of casualties the British suffered in the South due to the guerilla tactics.
Train the British troops to actually aim their muskets, instead of just point. While Minutemen were skilled shots, and could hit a man’s head at 200 yards, the redcoats weren’t exactly the most skilled at firing a musket. Their main use was the bayonette, which wasn’t exactly the most effective weapon against the hit-and-run colonists. While they were very effecient with the bayonette, they could’ve stood to be much more effecient with the musket.
We had a few more, but those were our most important points.
If I really was trying to get ideas for this project, why would I even post that it was for school at all? That would completely avoid anyone thinking that I’m just trying to get a good grade. Besides, I posted after we’d already turned our ideas in. Not that you have to believe me, I just thought I’d point that out.
As to your proposal number 1, Chocobo, isn’t the imprisonment of families and siezure of their farms sort of legally dodgy? Even granted that the husband/father in involved in insurrection, the rest of the family hasn’t committed any crime. You’d be arresting loyal British subjects and siezing their property. That just seems somehow unkosher.
Suggestion number 2 just violates the law, and it’s bad policy. You’re suggesting that the crown give its approval to the murder of British subjects without trial by other British subjects.
Suggestions number 3 and 4 sound ok, although a Parliamentary commission in Philidelphia might step on the toes of the Royal Governors, and the army might also resent their presence. Also, how are you going to insure their safety, especially because in suggestion number 2, you’ve just legitimized the tactic of assasination.
Suggestion number 5 sounds ok (I’m assuming that it would be after the French formally enter the war.) The invasion of Haiti might be difficult, though. It’s a big place, and pretty heavily defended
I’m ok with suggestion 6, assuming you could find or train people in guerilla warfare.
I disagree with the premise of 7. British troops were largely better trained and better marksmen than colonials.
Don’t you think that, due to the cantankerous, ornery, troublemaking nature of the colonists, they would have continued revolutionary activities every decade or so until they eventually won their freedom. Like the saying goes “If at first you don’t secede, try, try again”.