American Revolution, any way to stop it?

[Marshal Murat]

Keep on Topic.

What about the Monroe Doctrine. Why would President Monroe even try to prevent European influences in the Americas when his nation was very weak (militarily at least)

[lancelot]

Ironically enough I was reading an essay on yesterday on this topic.

It argued that one factor that could have helped stop the revolution (read-vile rebellion!) was a former victory, ie-the aquisition of canada.

It postulated that if we had let the French keep canada, a potential enemy on the border (along with indians) would have been more in the forethought of american minds than moaning about paying their own share of their (rather meagre) defence costs.

[Seamus Fermanagh]

Yes, the American Revolution of 1775 could have been prevented.

Necessary components of such a program:

Representation in Parliament, both houses, in numbers parallel to those accorded to the "Irish." Any real measure of voting power, at least to the extent where America's voice would have been heard and their numbers would have become -- at least occasionally -- critical to a vote would have done much to include the "colonials" and defuse resentment.

Repeal the limitations on Westward expansion imposed by the Proclamation of 1763. Most of the "fractious" residents of the colonies were focused on expansion. To support and allow this migration/conquest would have involved the British in an ongoing low-intensity conflict on the frontier (colonial armed forces were insufficient during this era), but would have opened a "safety-valve" of sorts for the more hot-headed of the colonials.

A greater and more visible expenditure of tax funds on behalf of colonial development. While the British government may have spent more on its colonies than they collected there, much of that spending was "invisible." Monies spent for troops who are not on the frontier or for naval patrols or for the local bureacratic offices do not compare to road building and/or harbor improvements for visibility. This would have allowed (over time) for a gradual increase in taxation and helped to offset the much higher costs incurred with fielding and supplying a frontier army in America.

Seamus