How were the colonists able to defeat England a great world power?

Answer 1

ANSWER:

It seemed that Americans had little chance against the mightiest empire in the world. The British outnumbered Americans three to one. The empire had enormous financial resources, stockpiles of arms, and a mighty navy.

Americans had few arms, little money, and no ships. But they did have one very important factor on their side - distance. A huge ocean separated them from Great Britain.

The British had to ship arms and armies over this wide stretch of water - a very expensive undertaking. In the end this distance, as much as anything else, defeated the British.

Distance was an important factor within the colonies, too. American generals could retreat over a vast, sparsely settled landscape without yielding anything of importance. British armies marched and conquered and found themselves controlling nothing but the soil beneath their feet, while hostile wilderness closed in behind them.

Americans were poorly trained in the military arts and quick to panic in the face of professional soldiers. But in times of emergency, hundreds of citizen-soldiers could materialize from nowhere, tipping the military balance and upsetting British plans. Moreover, the Americans were fighting for their political freedom on their home territory.

That gave them an enormous advantage over the British. Thomas Paine, made the statement, "It's not a few acres of ground, but a cause we are defending."

Answer 2

During the war the Americans benefited greatly from international assistance (from France, and then later also Holland and Spain, all of whom declared war on Britain). In addition, Britain had significant military disadvantages. Distance was a major problem: most troops and supplies had to be shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The British usually had logistical problems whenever they operated away from port cities, while the Americans had local sources of manpower and food and were more familiar with (and accustomed to) the territory. Additionally, ocean travel meant that British communications were always about two months out of date: by the time British generals in America received their orders from London, the military situation had usually changed.