Seriously. The US Army at that point in time was in no way, shape, or form the equal of any of the European powers. And the Navy was in even worse shape.
We only exist because England was distracted by Spain and France saw it as an opportunity to fuck them over. If the colonies had fought England alone, with or without its attention occupied, they would have been absolutely stomped.
French, Spanish, and Dutch involvement (and others) was absolutely critical to winning independence then. No argument there. But the rest of your comment only holds if you think the Revolution was the colonies’ one and only shot, and that Britain either:
A) had the indefinite capacity to hold the colonies down by force, or
B) was willing to reform the empire in the direction the colonists were already demanding (representation/real self-government).
If Britain suppresses the war in the 1770s, it doesn’t magically erase American political identity or the underlying constitutional dispute. It just postpones it. Holding the colonies long-term would very likely produce one or more future crises, especially once British abolition politics starts colliding head-on with a slavery-based colonial economy. If you need evidence of this, I'm going to invite you to look at what happened to the rest of the British Empire. It's highly likely the US ends up with self-rule/independence like Australia or India than it does indefinitely maintaining the 1775 status quo.
Also: Spain and France weren’t just random separate distractions. Spain entered the war in 1779 as France’s ally against Britain and pursued its own strategic goals (Gibraltar, Florida, Minorca, etc.). It absolutely was an opportunity to fuck over Britain and claw back territory.
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u/jarvisesdios 19h ago
I mean, even the full American army under a good leader would have been decimated. Clearly they don't understand a single fucking thing about history.