DWI: Successful Continental Revolt?

IIRC, the continentals were close to getting French aid in 1777, but after the disastrous British push starting at Whitemarsh, they looked too unappealing. What would have happened if the British were repulsed? Would the continentals have ended up getting anywhere close to victory? Would the French have intervened?
 
Yes, I imagine they would have succeeded. I doubt that they could of kept their inter-colony confederacy going for very long before it fell apart though.
 
What about Arnold and Washington? From what I understand they carried quite the presence and could have forced unification if necessary.
 
IIRC, the continentals were close to getting French aid in 1777, but after the disastrous British push starting at Whitemarsh, they looked too unappealing. What would have happened if the British were repulsed? Would the continentals have ended up getting anywhere close to victory? Would the French have intervened?
It really wasn't a military defeat that ended a very political problem. It was the Isle's offer of reconciliation and compromise, and most importantly complete amnesty and colonial trade concessions, that won back over the continentals. The military firm hand is much overrated.

That said, can you imagine the irony if the continentals had successfully declared independence? I can see the words from some other time. "Continental Independence, saving Britain from becoming a province of the Oceanic Federation." :p

Not becoming the de facto capital in the 20th century when Russia all but dominated Europe and threatened to cut off the Isles, not being the bread and industrial basket/trade center perfectly situated to link the Americas, Europe, and Asia, and any other benefits? Why, I think most people would mock any other alternative!
 
Yes, I imagine they would have succeeded. I doubt that they could of kept their inter-colony confederacy going for very long before it fell apart though.

I agree with you.

Its almost ASB to think that if they suceeded they would become the worlds greatest and most powerful superpower:rolleyes:
 
Come on, give us more credit. I may only have a few generations of heritage, but the D.V. could have done better than that. I mean look at what we eventually became even under the British; the strongest of the dominions. We probably could have done so much more on our own.
 
Yet these same lands are the modern heartlands of one of the Three Great Powers left on Earth , encompassing close to two fifths of humanity .
 
OOC: DBWI (Double-Blind-What-If) - You don't know how the world changed in this timeline.
DWI (Double-What-If) - You do, and its a different timeline.
WI (What-If) - Standard Alt. History.

DBWI: So what if the Oceanic charter flunked in '52? Would we enjoy this prosperity?

DWI: What if Hitler lost WW2?

WI: What if Hitler won WW2?
 
The real question, as I see it, is not whether the colonies could have won the 'Revolutionary War', but rather whether they could peacably settle the 2nd Revolutionary Conflict (also known variously as the Civil War, the Great War, the 2nd Colonial War, or the War for Southern Independence, depending on whom you consult). Once the British ended slavery in 1823, and the southern colonies revolted again, could Colonial and Canadian troops put down the revolt without the massive British aid they received?
 
The real question, as I see it, is not whether the colonies could have won the 'Revolutionary War', but rather whether they could peacably settle the 2nd Revolutionary Conflict (also known variously as the Civil War, the Great War, the 2nd Colonial War, or the War for Southern Independence, depending on whom you consult). Once the British ended slavery in 1823, and the southern colonies revolted again, could Colonial and Canadian troops put down the revolt without the massive British aid they received?
It was much later than 1823 that slavery ended, my friend. In 1823, the slave trade ended, and you could no longer ship slaves around the empire. While the ban on the importation of slaves came in 1823, but that applied pretty much everywhere BUT the Continent, which was pretty much the only place in the world to have a growing slave population. After all, cotton was dependent on slave labor, cotton was the life blood of Oceanic textile industry, and cotton could really only be grown in the South of North America. The Empire was really only able to end slavery in North America in the 70's, when there was so much cotton in the market that the cotton-based regions of the South collapsed and were all but begging to be paid to free their slaves. You had a significant number of crazy holdouts, but economics really didn't match the idealism of the 20's, or 30's, and so on until the late 60's.
 
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