Comments by "John Burns" (@johnburns4017) on "The Gaspee Affair of 1772" video.

@KillingDeadThings The British got an empire they did not want. Trade spread the empire. The British were traders. Private companies (British East India) had men of war ships and private armies to protect their trading posts, putting no burden on the British taxpayers. When matters got bad the Crown was forced to intervene. Hence the spread of territory controlled by the Crown, which costed. The British were very good organisers and fair people, so were welcomed in many parts of the world. They promoted wealth.
3
@jamesbarton1969 Britain made more from Jamaica alone than the 13 colonies.
3
@QuantumRift When the threat of the French was eliminated by British forces, those in British America became more greedy. Most people in British America were not in favour of independence. Most of those who signed the declaration were greedy landowners wanting to get their hands on lands to the west, Indian lands, which London forbid. They were taking a massive gamble at the time. If they did get independence, what was to stop the French or Spanish moving in and taking the lands? The only reason the minority in British America got independence was because of the help from the French and Spanish. If either of those moved to take the lands a few years later they could do nothing. The British would not care too much. They left themselves bare and open.
2
@Kevin-mx1vi You need to do some more reading on this topic. The British won the war of 1812, despite Americans attempting to say it was a draw. 1) The British acheived their aims in ejecting the invaders from Canada restoring the situation there. 2) The USA failed in achieving their aims, which was the subjugation of Canada by force. The British won. The British were totally disinterested in occupying the USA.
2
@jamesbarton1969 The loyalists were called Tories.
2
@KillingDeadThings The USA would not have those ridiculous gun laws for sure.
2
I was viewed that British America was not paying enough for its defense. Impressment was national service. They never had the way we do it today. It was also done in Britain, so they had nothing to bitch about.
1
@TheHistoryGuyChannel The colonists were having a better deal than those in Britain. As you pointed out, they were getting away with some tariffs. How do you know you are getting a bargain? When you know what it would really cost. If you do not know that, you may think you were being ripped off. It appears the colonists were not told of what the situation of the people in Britain was. BTW, an ancestor of mine, John Beck, fought for for the rebels. He was in charge of Fort Pitt, now Pittsburgh, for a while. He eventually made his way back to England living around the Lake District. I do believe he emanated from Sir John Miller who gained ownership of the Islington Estate in London.
1
@TheHistoryGuyChannel Many Americans put the independence war as some sort of moral and just quest, when the motivations behind many who instigated the rebellion was more self interest.
1
@KillingDeadThings It is a matter of opinion whether they were treated unfairly. They were not paying their way on many points, especially the defense. Canadians were not so cantankerous.
1
A nice piece on Robert Morris from Liverpool, who signed the declaration of independence - an act of treason.. https://www.facebook.com/hiddenliverpool.co.uk/posts/the-forgotten-liverpudlian-who-was-a-founding-father-of-the-usaon-the-8th-of-may/846939318792734/
1
That word the Americans use, patriot! A patriot is someone who is patriotic to the existing regime. Anyone else is a rebel. What spin. They spin the war of 1812 as well saying it was a draw when the British won. Laughable.
1
@TheHistoryGuyChannel The British won the war of 1812, despite Americans attempting to say it was a draw. 1) The British achieved their aims in ejecting the invaders from Canada restoring the situation there. 2) The USA failed in achieving their aims, which was the subjugation of Canada by force. The British won. Simple. No other conclusion. The British were totally disinterested in occupying the USA. Americans seem to think as the British never occupied the country, taking it back into the empire, that somehow they did not win.
1
Yes the Gaspee affair had strong slavery connections: The leaders of the burning – men like John Brown and Simeon Potter – made their fortunes in the slave trade and West Indies trade, and were angered by British moves to tax and regulate their economic empires. The Gaspee was a ship sent to enforce British taxes on Rhode Island rum – a key slave trade currency – and other goods. The attackers, then, emerge not as brave colonists inspired by lofty notions of liberty, but rather self-interested elites working to preserve the lucrative business of slavery. http://rihumanities.org/calendar/rethinking-the-gaspee-affair-ri-the-slave-trade-and-revolution/ Rhode Island continued moving enslaved people well into the 19th century, even after the formal abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. The list of the top ten largest slave traders in US history is entirely Rhode Islanders The colonial ruling class was further angered by the growing belief that Great Britain was uniting with free and enslaved Indigenous and Black people The trends coalesced into a set of court cases leading to the landmark Somerset judgement—centered on the enslaved James Somerset’s successful petition for freedom—which effectively ended slavery within England itself. The case began in 1771 and was decided in June, 1772, the very same month Rhode Islanders burned the Gaspee. The decision terrified the colonies, as settlers feared the Crown would soon outlaw slavery across the colonies. https://upriseri.com/2020-06-09-gaspee/
1
@TheHistoryGuyChannel Yep, I got that :) American history re: independence, war of 1812, and even WW2, was very much skewed. To their credit, many Americans now want to see matters as they were, looking at the real causes and motivations, questioning the traditional narrative. One big example is the underlying questions on the Civil War. That has created much debate in the US in the past decade.
1