SW10/WWW: Psychovant Teaches American History #18: How'd the British Lose the Revolution?

[Scott Eiler]

This week ends the first curriculum for "Psychovant Teaches American 
History"!  We made it all the way from prehistory, and now we're going 
to deal with the American Revolution.

Why'd the British lose that war?  They had all their old rivals France, 
Spain, and Holland (the Dutch) against them!  Well, actually the Dutch 
were sympathetic to American rebellion but they waffled because waaah, 
the English were in a really good position to beat them up.

What about everyone else?  I (Psychovant) am having a five-day 
spectacular across social media, to teach that lesson.  But here on 
RACC, I know you stop in once a month or so to read the stuff.  So I'll 
give you the whole thing at once.

	-  France and Spain sent a second Armada against England, for instance. 
  Only the *calm* winds stopped that one. 
https://military.wikia.org/wiki/Armada_of_1779

	-  And Spain was active against England from the Louisiana Territory. 
That was the whole point of the famous expedition of George Rogers Clark 
to the West:  to make alliance.  And the alliance worked!  Brits fought 
Spaniards and American rebels in the west, all through the war.  The 
Americans raided Michigan one time, and the Spanish the next! 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_St._Joseph_(Niles,_Michigan)

	-  And the Spanish attacked British Florida!  Not very well, but they 
still got the place after the war.  Some more of that famous British 
"keep it away from our *main* enemies) motivation. 
http://floridahistory.org/british.htm

	-  And there was that time the French invaded Virginia to collaborate 
with their favorite rebels.  As American schoolchildren, you were going 
to learn about the Battle of Yorktown anyway.  But it's still worth 
mentioning.  And it kind of affected the French too:  they had their own 
Revolution, not much later! 
https://www.history.com/news/how-did-the-american-revolution-influence-the-french-revolution

-- 
-- (signed) Scott Eiler  8{D> ------ http://www.eilertech.com/ -------

The soldiers presented a pathetic but inspiring spectacle. The
hospitals were crowded with sick and wounded; the walls were
gradually crumbling under incessant shell fire, yet that garrison
of heroes remained undaunted.

It was as Buck said, "just as if they had been Americans."

- from "The Airship Boys in the Great War", De Lysle F. Cass, 1915.
Coming soon to Project Gutenberg.  gutenberg.org