American Victory and the Waning British Empire

Introduction: From British Colony to Global Power

The United States began quite humbly as a subject nation under the world's great power. As a prolific player in the colonization of lands lying outside the pale of European civilization, the British Empire emerged victorious as the sole claimant to the country that would eventually succeed it as the globe's most far-reaching and culturally influential national entity. As we know it today, the United States is geographically, economically, and politically unparalleled in its wealth and in its capacity to shape international patterns of trade, diplomacy, and war. With a presence in each of these capacities that impinges upon the dominant affairs of every inhabited continent, its vision and priorities are typically supported with the vigor of manifest destiny.

The United States and the United Kingdom are today great partners on a divided world stage. Ironically, this is a relationship which, at its worst, helped plant the seeds for a reciprocating progressiveness that would leap back and forth across the Atlantic through the coming century. Bred in the thick of British colonialism, the United States would surface into existence with an ingrained nod to monarchical elitism alongside a full-fledged thrust toward constitutional democracy. This transition suggested a new compact with the people, with expectations of political involvement and activism promoting suitable elected representation.

In the United Kingdom, the rule of the British Crown and a feudal system with highly unequal socioeconomic tendencies helped maintain a culture of political ignorance among the public while assuring leadership, authority, and wealth to those who had inherited them. In the United States, historians Martin and Lender (2006) argue, a convergence of the will of the people and the oversight of an elite social core would promote victory for the fledgling democracy. It would also signal the crumbling of the British Empire, which would deteriorate dramatically in the century to follow.

The Continental Army as the Engine of Victory

The central argument here is that America won its War of Independence by establishing itself as a cause worth fighting for. So too is the argument advanced by Martin and Lender, who offer an exhaustive case that the Continental Army, more than any other force, served up defeat to the far more powerful, experienced, and trained British soldiers. For Martin and Lender, the socioeconomic integration of the Continental Army was one of its key defining features. Though American fighters were often reluctant to leave the comfortable confines of their respective state and regional militias — which also constituted an important force in repelling British tyranny — Martin and Lender cite the central importance of the Continental Army in reflecting the formative impulses of the burgeoning nation.

Democratic Ideals vs. British Military Hierarchy

Particularly, the fighting force seemed to embody a convergence of central governmental authority — such that enlistment requirements, drafts, and quotas drawn from militias were imposed — and of free-market economic principles — insofar as many men were drawn to take part in the conflict by the offer of monetary reward from the states. The Continental Army was not simply a force motivated by service to a united cause, but by the democratic impulses that differentiated it from the British system of nobility and military rank. As a result, the dedication to cause elicited from the Continental Army soldier was inherently driven by the theoretical opportunities that would follow victory. Certainly, for those who took part in the struggle to remove the British from American soil, there was also the adoption of a view of this land as a personal homeland now subjected to occupation.

This motive may be said to offer a greater assurance of eventual victory than military might alone. In the case of the American War of Independence, the better-armed and more resource-wealthy British Imperial forces were worn down by a commitment to what the Continental Army and militias alike regarded as their own soil. To say nothing of the clear economic motives which caused the Founding Fathers to desire freedom from British taxation and forced exportation, those who led America into war with Britain would deal a significant blow to the British Empire as a whole.

Conclusion: A Victory That Shaped a Nation

Ultimately, it seems appropriate to acknowledge these events first and foremost as a victory for the aristocratic leaders of the American rebellion and the working-class enlisted men alongside whom they fought. Without too greatly idealizing this relationship, it may be acknowledged as a root of America's socioeconomic identity today.

References

Martin, J. K., & Lender, M. E. (2006). A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763–1789. Harlan Davidson, Inc.