Edward Lengel's Analysis

America’s victory over the British can be argued that it occurred for many reasons, some reasons more straightforward in explanation while other reasons are more complex and highly controversial. Of the numerous arguments for America’s success over the British, foreign intervention, especially by the French, is indisputably the most significant contribution America’s victory. The alliance that America shared with one of Britain’s most threatening opposing forces at the time placed the rebels at an advantage. However, the dispute and constant search for Loyalist support is an important reason, arguably more important than foreign intervention, why American succeeded in the Revolutionary War. Stephen Conway, who is a professor and writer from …show more content…
The British had an agenda for acquiring Loyalists and their success in using them in theaters like Philadelphia encouraged the Americans to increase their methods in suppressing those who would potentially join the British forces. Lengel agrees that most of the sought Loyalist were just ideas of wishful thinking by the British, but it did not deter the Americans from trying to contain the Loyalist who were promised freedom upon joining the British’s cause. The American fought to keep Loyalists from joining the ranks of the British just a hard as the British pursued the support of the …show more content…
Conway expresses that securing the support of the Loyalists was difficult no matter how much effort was given despite the British’s aggressive treatment. Lengel expresses that the Loyalists were more than willing to support the British, even with the colonists’ attempt to make peace with the British as longs as they can have freedom and elected representatives. Although there was support for the crown within the colonies, the rebels fought to keep the supporters from joining the British’s ranks. While Lengel presents a good case, the loss of the war for the British was due to the fact that they could not secure the support of the Loyalists. While they had troops extended across countries to maintain their assets and secure others that were higher priority than America, the British forces were spread thin. Because of the weak numbers of British troops, they were unable to fight against the Americans who were wearing their forces down little by little. Loyalists were important in the sense that they would give the British support in numbers, but the lack of Loyalists meant smaller forces. If the British were able to secure the support of more Loyalists through other means than aggression, the outcome of the war may have been