assessment of forces strengths and weaknesses

Question 1

british strengths: summary

Answer 1

• significantly larger population -8 mill ppl compared to colonies 2.5 million ppl- 500,000 of which were slaves
• most brits favoured the war
• had the support of 500,000 loyalists and native americans
• regular army was 50,000 strong army
• hired hessians in 1777- 18,000 soldiers
• provided britain with trained troops that could immediately be sent to america
• naval superiority- royal navy had over 300 ships in 1775-6, which enabled britain to reinforce and supply its forces, move men along the american seabord and blockade and attack american ports
• lord sandwich highly able leader and embarked on a major shipbuilding programme
• new secretary of state- lord Germaine coordinated british war effort well amd organised effective war effort

Question 2

british weaknesses: summary

Answer 2

• logistical problems: fighting a war 3000 miles from home, and so it took troops and supplies 2-3 months to cross the atlantic- by the time that they arrived, the situation had likely changed
• problems with terrain- war was in huge, unfriendly territory made fighting tricky, and made ot hard for UK troops to go more than 15 miles from navigable rivers

Question 3

american strengths: summary

Answer 3

• they were committed to their glorious cause
• the continental army was very small
• despite the CA being very small, the militia turned out in large numbers in areas of conflict and served as political police intimidating loyalists
• over 100,000 americans served in militia
• congress and stated commissioned about 200 privateers which inflicted heavy damage on brit merchant ships

Question 4

american weaknesses: summary

Answer 4

• there was a distinct lack of unity- most states remained separate to guard their own interest- very diverse economy
• hard to build an army from scratch- some states were slow to fill their quota of troops- the army was only enlisted for a short period of time
• never exceeded 20,000 men, had hardly 5,000
• the state militia was less impressive fighting force- they were only enrolled for a few weeks and went home before the term expired
• america had no navy- eventually had 50 vessels commissioned into the continental army- most were merchant ships, not war ships, which possessed no threat
• they lacked effective government- they adopted the articles of confederation in 1778, but they had limited powers of central government- they could make war not wage it
• MASSIVE ECONOMIC DIFFICULTIES
• the economy was disrupted; demands of the army and blockade left shortage of goods, troops and munition, arms and uniform
• congress couldn’t levy taxes or finance war, only printed war leading to inflation

Question 5

british strategy

Answer 5

troops faced a hostile population, relying on UK for it’s supplies- so the army was put in a garrison to protect american ports, limited troops for field operations.

BUT, the occupation of territory brought no advantage, when british moved, the rebels flared up their rear.
seaboard stategy was favoured; gaining American ports and blockading the rest of the coast

Question 6

overarching arguments

Answer 6

• british regular army and royal navy
• british bases surrounding the colonists
• british economic strength
• distance and unfamiliarity of colonial territory
• british population size and loyalists
• american disunity and amateurism
• the leadership of both sides