AHC:With a PoD post 1763- have American Rebellion break out in 1760s

The key is the Intolerable Acts -- get Britain to overreact and trample on the English rights of one of the continental colonies sooner, and you'll get a revolt... of at least some caliber, as colonial cooperation may be affected.
 

raharris1973

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The key is the Intolerable Acts -- get Britain to overreact and trample on the English rights of one of the continental colonies sooner, and you'll get a revolt... of at least some caliber, as colonial cooperation may be affected.

Okay here's the idea then. Instead of the Boston Tea Party waiting until 1773, there is the New York tea and lead and glass and paper and paint party in December 1768, causing the implementation of the Intolerable Acts before 1769 is over.

....and then things develop from there.
 
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raharris1973

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I think this late 1760s PoD outlined above is potentially a good one.

An even earlier one could be had if Parliament never backs off from the Stamp Act, and takes "intolerable" measures in retaliation for the American embargo.
 

raharris1973

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I'm going to go further out on a limb and say that if the conflict starts from any point after the proclamation line and Stamp Act onward, the Colonial response will be fairly united, Britain will have an equally hard time suppressing resistance as OTL (cannot think of why it would be easier) and the odds of French and Spanish intervention are as high then as later.

Potentially we've just boosted up the ARW, United States and French Revolution by a decade or half decade.
 
neither France nor Spain are in any shape to take on Britain any sooner than OTL. They had an opportunity in 1770 with the Falklands Crisis, and passed. Having a third party involved (Patriots) might make them a little more willing to mix it up, but especially France knows it isn't in good enough shape to go at it again.

Both would be more likely to render back door aid.
 
One way I could see it happening is for the Stamp Act Crisis to spiral out of control. Perhaps the British double down and send troops to protect their stamp distributors' properties from mobs. Violence continues, and presumably it would peak in Boston or some other major settlement, and the British may send more troops to pacify the city. Might be an analog to some of the Intolerable Acts follow (like the [X City] Port Act, Administration of Justice Act, Quartering Act). From there, things would proceed much as they did in 1774-75 -- militias mustering, powder alarms, the whole thing.

As for the war itself, I could see it being a regional thing. OTL the various crises prior to the outbreak of war in 1775 helped tie together the revolutionaries across the continent -- got them talking, organizing opposition, building closer relationships. Getting the war war going a decade early means that rebellion is going to be more concentrated in one part of the colonies and less so otherwise -- likely on a north-south axis. It'll be weaker and, probably, more easily snuffed out.
 
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