What if: America lost the Revolutionary War ?

[Bob Hubbard]

Pondering an alternate world where the American Revolution failed
http://alternativehistory.com/wash.htm

Two events dosed the flames of enthusiasm for separation from England that briefly sparked in the American colonies in the 1770s, these being the capture of Gen. Washington by Gen. Howe in 1776 and the news of the death of King George the III in the same year. The shakeup in the English government saw the rise Charles James Fox who was a great supporter of the ideals of the American revolutionists. The former revolutionist were not hung or imprisoned, and many such as Jefferson and Washington would go on to be representatives. The unpopular taxes were repealed (although taxes on American exports stealthily increased later ) and landed citizens were given the right to vote with MPs who were sent to England to represent their areas. The Quebec Act of 1774 was limited to not include areas the Ohio Valley.​

There were later some rioting against the Proclamation Line of 1763 which was designed to grant an Indian Reserve and prevent Indian conflicts. These were not seriously enforced and officials turned a blind eye to most who crossed the line. The Slave Trade Act 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act 1832 caused some Southern colonies to threaten to form their own country, but the English government offered recompenses to the southern planters. Most of the large plantation owners had begun hiring East Indians and Chinese labor since the Slave Trade Act 1807 and the number of black slaves had greatly declined as the East Indians and Chinese were regarded to be better workers and less inclined to revolt.
​

 

[Ken Morgan]

You guys would likely have become Canadians......
We're still willing to take some now, mostly just New England and Alaska mind you....can you say Tim Hortons? Sure you can! Come on, try it!

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Buffalo's almost Canadian.
We love Timmy's, have a weird fixation with Hockey, and many have spent quality time at the Canadian Ballet.

 

[granfire]

Football would be played according to the rules of the rest of the world, we would cheer for Cricket, and maybe rugby.

And meet for High Tea, of course, for a cup of Earl Grey and crumpets.

 

[Scott T]

Football would be played according to the rules of the rest of the world, we would cheer for Cricket, and maybe rugby.

And meet for High Tea, of course, for a cup of Earl Grey and crumpets.

Given that Canadian football (and later, American) was originally descended from rugby, chances are good that versions of the CFL/NFL-style game would still exist.

as for the US losing the revolution, sadly we'll never know.

 

[jedtx88]

How many more wars would be fought with the french? Would the Mexican Revolution still have gone down?

 

[Big Don]

Holy crap! We'd all be speaking English.

 

[jedtx88]

More importantly would Samuel Colt have been born?

 

[Sukerkin]

This is a subject I have pondered a few times in idle 'creative' moments but I have always thought of how it would have shaped global events rather than those on the American continent alone. It is a fertile field for speculation that's to be sure . I was most struck by the point in the OP about how the abolition of slavery would have played out under British rule. How massive would the changes be in the States if there had never been a civil war?

 

[Bob Hubbard]

One of the reasons I've seen stated for the Revolution were issues surrounding the slave trade. If the war had been lost and America had remained a colony, slavery would most likely have ended about the time Britain ended it. I suspect the OP to have this one right that some form of buy-out would have happened. Slavery would have ended much like it did in the rest of the world, mostly peacefully. The disaster that was the US Civil War wouldn't have happened as the main causes for it wouldn't have then existed.

The Mexican-American war wouldn't have happened due to the different political boundaries, nor would the Spanish American War have happened as it did. The War of 1812 would also have most likely not happened as the main causes for that (British harassment of American shipping to name 1) wouldn't have existed.

With the different political boundaries, other conflicts as hinted in the OP would have occurred. Texas might have still tried for independence from Mexico, though it's debatable if that war would happen when it did, or how it did. Many of the key players were Americans, and without an America and it's attitude, those players might have evolved different. Imagine a Britisized Davey Crockett. He might still have killed that bear, but he would have done it with a crumpet for interrupting tea.

 

[Tez3]

Not a crumpet per se but a crumpet toasting fork.

I would suggest too that as America would have been part of the Empire then the Commonwealth a lot of history would have been changed. I think the Commonwealth while it is influential now would with the addition of America be far more so, perhaps the UK would not have joined Europe.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

Dentistry would be a lost art.

 

[Tez3]

Dentistry would be a lost art.

Really? We have healthy teeth probably more so than the artificially whitened, veneered things prominent in America. The cult of the perfect where teeth are unnaturally white and straight, private parts are hairless, women have to be unnaturally thin and no one must look old. Our teeth aren't bad by the way, just a little more natural that you like.

 

[granfire]

Really? We have healthy teeth probably more so than the artificially whitened, veneered things prominent in America. The cult of the perfect where teeth are unnaturally white and straight, private parts are hairless, women have to be unnaturally thin and no one must look old. Our teeth aren't bad by the way, just a little more natural that you like.

yep, compared to the chasm of the perfect pearly whites to the utter ruins some people have, since they can't afford dentistry.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I'll let others argue the teeth issue, that's not one I'm much enameled with, haha.

I will say that the American fixation for overly inflated tata's though in our current timeline doesn't seem to reach far into Britain past Page 3, if the candid shots of the last 30 years British actresses on Mr.Skins is an example.

Err, so I hear being an innocent type who would never check such things out, n all that.

You believe me right?

No?

Crap.

 

[Sukerkin]

:chuckles: That's because, as far as I recall from a study I heard about, we of the male gender over here in Britain are blessed with members of the fairer sex who are amongst the most ... er ... well ... how can I put this? ... ah yes, blessed with members of the fairer sex who are amongst the least in the world in danger of drowning due to their natural advantages with regard to inherent buoyancy .

 

[Bob Hubbard]

:chuckles: That's because, as far as I recall from a study I heard about, we of the male gender over here in Britain are blessed with members of the fairer sex who are amongst the most ... er ... well ... how can I put this? ... ah yes, blessed with members of the fairer sex who are amongst the least in the world in danger of drowning due to their natural advantages with regard to inherent buoyancy .

And yet that poor Time Lord can't find them. I blame a jealous TARDIS.


Hmm....thinking. If Britain had won, think how Christmas would have been changed. Santa would be wearing a suit colored by Earl Grey, not Coke.
Instead of turkey, we'd be eating spotted dick!
(which I must try someday since my local supermarket carries a selection of imported British goods.)

Would Patton have become a famous tank commander?
Would there have been a World War?

 

[Grenadier]

My take on this scenario:

Even if America had lost the Revolutionary War, another uprising would have probably taken place, and it would not have been in Britain's best interests to keep sending troops and supplies 3000 miles away. Furthermore, they still faced a very real, very significant threat from the French.

Great Britain would certainly still have the superior manpower, weapons, and a very powerful navy (the American one didn't even exist), and would have won the lion's share of battles, but in the end, it would have been too costly of a war to wage. Eventually, they would have pulled out. Think of it as what the USA went through with Vietnam.

 

[Bill Mattocks]

We'd all be drinking tea instead of coffee and that would make me very cranky indeed.