jimboston wrote:Hey Juan_Bottom... great post!
Mostly I wanted to keep the discussion going. History is awesome.
jimboston wrote:The English could have easily won.
Well the main problem that the English faced was the American's spirit. The English were winning all the battles. They were just destroying all opposition. But the will to win stayed alive in the hearts of all Americans. You just can't win a war like that. And even if say,.... the English had won, they would likely have went back to the old system of oppression. And twenty years later revolution would have started again.
jimboston wrote:Colonists at the time would have been happy to pledge allegiance to King George if they could have had either;
1) Representative votes in Parliament.
-or-
2) The ability to levy their own taxes... not taxed by fiat by the King or Parliament.
So true of the US in the 1700s. Well, until the 1780s....
jimboston wrote:As much as I believe the US has contributed to the world... I wonder if perhaps the world would have been better with a move tightly unified and stronger "Commonwealth".
Well that would imply that the UK were the good guys. I would argue that the modern view (for white western cultures anyway) of the UK didn't start until after WWI. Perhaps even after WWII.
Anyway the point is that the UK controlled/oppressed enough of the world that they didn't need control of our whole hemisphere to help. However I'm not saying that we're innocent because of the Monroe Doctrine or anything, because America has done it's fair share of ridiculously embarrassing oppression. But I think that my point was made.
Doc_Brown wrote:Parliament also forbade colonization to the west of the Appalachian Mountains in an effort to minimize the cost of defending and maintaining the colonies
Or to be more specific, because the Native Americans on that side would slaughter anyone they caught on their land. Yet somehow the colonists thought it was a good idea to ignore the order not to go where they would be slaughtered. I mean, I get it that land = power, but come on.
jonesthecurl wrote:...I think it's "serves you right you limey jerk!"...
I pay taxes and I don't get to vote.
My phrase might be "stop right there you criminal scum! No more inalienable rights for you!"
Same boat different reasons.
pimpdave wrote:In that case, I guess it's time for a new revolution.
I have a bunch of Nerf weapons we can use.
lulz
Where were you during the bailout?