Englands Vietnam

Alex Eberts 8 September 2006
“England’s Vietnam” Period 2

Presidents of the 60’s should have learned from Britain’s mistake with the American Revolution when getting involved with Vietnam. The colonists’ discontent led to violence. After King George III heard this he was determined to put the colonists in their place by using force. England thought that a war with America would be easy and quick. William Innes made up a plan for the British to win the war by starting in Boston and working its way south, defeating America in the process. He also figured the army could recruit American loyalists to make the army “Americanized.” England figured after the war was won the loyalists would take over and run the government for the British when they left. The British in order to see if they had support they conducted a vote. Many people favored the idea of suppressing the colonists. England did not want to make peace with the colonies. They thought that war was the easiest and best way to settle the dispute. King George III was afraid if he lost his colonies in America he would lose his colonies in the West Indies and Ireland as well. Some people thought that America was too far away for England to bother with sending an army and supplies. People died, ships were sunk, etc. during the three month journey. The French who were enemies of the British knew the American soil better than the British. They decided to help the colonists map out a plan to defeat the British. Some people thought that the war with America would cost more than Britain could afford. Even if the British won the war they wouldn’t have the money to run the colonies. William Pitt warned the British that they would not be able to defeat the Americans. Even though people were trying to persuade the British not to fight they did so anyways. The Americans decided to use a different fighting technique than the English. Guerilla warfare was a problem for the British. British soldiers could not tell which Americans were loyalists and which were not. The Americans had the advantage because they could replace men easily, while Britain had to wait for replacements to come all the way from England. Britain didn’t have enough men in England who wanted to fight. Instead they paid foreign countries for the use of their men. The loyalists were no help to the British army since there were few of them and they were scattered all over the place. France and Spain both enemies of Great Britain decided to help the American colonists defeat the British. Most people saw that the outcome of the war would be a disaster and men in Parliament spoke out about it, but the King wouldn’t listen. People thought the British should just make peace with the Americans. Because of lack of support Lord North made the war with America into a “limited” war. Most of the colonists hadn’t thought of independence until 1775. They then wrote the Declaration of Independence. America kept fighting with the idea that independence could be gained. Britain lost the war and a peace treaty was signed. Lord North then made a statement saying that the war was not all his idea it was parliaments also.