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Oddly enough....we did WIN the Revolution....then turned around and wanted the European lifestyle left behind by our ancestors. It currently seems as though we won a spark and independence we no longer hold precious enough to be willing to fight for. The good part is....I think if times get tough enough or if our freedom is threatened enough.....that old spark will kindle up....and we'll be as strong as ever.
I'm sorry I found your post so late but want to say that although I hope that spark will start again I don't really believe it will. I say that because we have too many people who want to live without having to do anything themselves but take the government's largesse and go on. Too many of us believe that the promises Obama made concerning health care and being looked out for by those who pay taxes will sit back and take whatever it takes to get those things. They don't realize that at least 50% of us do not pay income taxes but will continue to live off the 50% who do and it will be 60 40 soon and then 70 - 30 and so on. When there is nobody paying for the others what do we do? We do what we have to do to be fed and clothed and I hate to see that day and am glad I am so old that I probably won't live that long. That revolution you mentioned better start soon as we old coots won't be around much longer to fight it.
There are already plenty of highly politicized threads in various forums here about how the liberals are stealing all the money from the hardworking American patriots and handing it out to the fecund mothers of crack babies. Please direct your comments to one of those threads, and leave us here to discuss history topics.
Had the British been able to suppress the American Revolution, at that time, the French Revolution would have happened. I do not think that it was contingent on the American Revolution. I think the response would have been the same (Oh crap-that could be us.) The same people would not be calling for it.
The majority of the lower classes were of the mind that they were trading one tyrant for another. The poverty ranks were growing at that time. The military lost its elitism during this period out of necessity and there are various accounts where soldiers did not want to serve with soldiers of any other area. However, many would have served for either side as long as there was pay involved.
So, the Industrial Revolution would continue and would create a new nobility. However, eventually trade would not be limited to England. Prior riots would be romanticized and this time by the poor, who were (and to an extent still are), subject to moral treatments for poverty.
The poverty gap would continue to widen, slavery continues, captains of industry continue to rise, abolitionist movement continues to grow. There are continued attempts by other countries to colonize. This would be tiring and financially hazardous.
Another constant, there would still be this rise of nationalism through out the world. The Grimm brothers, would still be out there and the call for a sense of identity would become louder and would eventually drift through here.
Capitalizing on all of these factors there would still be a revolution, however, immediately afterwards there would be a civil war, or two, or even three. At best, we would be operating under something similar to the Articles. At worst, we would be dealing with regional powers in conflict with no appeal and far more paperwork to carry or subjected to a dictatorship the likes we have never seen. It might even be welcomed by many for the sake of consistancy (real or imaginary).
My view of a American future in which Britain had kept a hold on the United States is Canada on steroids. A foundation of a mighty Commomwealth on which the sun always at high noon somewhere 24 hours a day. India was acquired for Britain's East India Company. Most of Canada was gained for Britain by the Hudson's Bay Company who sent explorers out west like MacKenzie who made to the Yukon and Pacific. Americans going to Oregon in the 1840s found Hudson's Bay Co outposts at Vancouver, Washington and in Idaho and British Columbia. The same economics would have drove Britain to version of Manefest Destiny and Industrial Britain would have seen the same value in scooping up California gold like they did in South Africa or building an intercontinental railroad like they did in India. Men like Isambard Kingdom Brunnel or Cecil Rhodes might have had American provinces named after them. The British Empire would have survived the 20th century because US economic power would have been under London's control and available to fight his Majesty around the globe. Imagine his/her majesties Royal American Marines in their smart Red uniforms sitting in Mesopotamia, Persia or in the Kyber Pass or chasing pirates from a base is Aden or British Somalia. The more things change the more they stay the same.
Brazil is as large as it is, because Portugal was awarded, by edict, a huge amount of territory which had not been fragmented before that. The central swath of the North American continent would have been unlikely to enjoy such an enduring integrity. Without a quickly executed alternative plan of union, what is not the USA would have fallen under several flags. And, a great nation has never evolved in a tropical climate, so Brazil had that going against it from the get-go.
My view of a American future in which Britain had kept a hold on the United States is Canada on steroids. A foundation of a mighty Commomwealth on which the sun always at high noon somewhere 24 hours a day. India was acquired for Britain's East India Company. Most of Canada was gained for Britain by the Hudson's Bay Company who sent explorers out west like MacKenzie who made to the Yukon and Pacific. Americans going to Oregon in the 1840s found Hudson's Bay Co outposts at Vancouver, Washington and in Idaho and British Columbia. The same economics would have drove Britain to version of Manefest Destiny and Industrial Britain would have seen the same value in scooping up California gold like they did in South Africa or building an intercontinental railroad like they did in India. Men like Isambard Kingdom Brunnel or Cecil Rhodes might have had American provinces named after them. The British Empire would have survived the 20th century because US economic power would have been under London's control and available to fight his Majesty around the globe. Imagine his/her majesties Royal American Marines in their smart Red uniforms sitting in Mesopotamia, Persia or in the Kyber Pass or chasing pirates from a base is Aden or British Somalia. The more things change the more they stay the same.
Agreed, the only different thing would be more organizations and government agencies would have "Royal" before their name ex. Royal New York State Police or even better, the Royal New York State Constabulary. And that our head of state would be Queen Elizabeth II rather then a elected president. I think Royal American Marine Corps sounds pretty neat actually lol
It would not be that radically different from what we have today.
Maybe then you guys would know that football is the game that you call "soccer" nowadays.
And your so-called "football" would be called "rugby with a helmet".
Maybe then you guys would know that football is the game that you call "soccer" nowadays.
And your so-called "football" would be called "rugby with a helmet".
cheers!
Rugby with a helmet?? I think American would have called this game American Rules Football or AFL much like our friends down under call their version Australian Rules Football or Footy. I have a soft spot for the Australian game because a position in the game is called the "Ruckman" and this player can play both offense and defense. Now I wonder what Americans would have done to Cricket.
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