Mission impossible - 7 April 2009 |
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One consequence of the British government’s underestimate of the American fighting spirit during the late 18th century was their dogged insistence, despite the abundance of evidence and testimony to the contrary, that they could actually win a war with America (Tuchman, March of Folly).
The voices of sanity were numerous, but sadly ignored. For example:
Lord Chatham: ‘You cannot, I venture to say it, you CANNOT conquer America’ (p. 215).
Charles Fox: Conquest of America was ‘in the nature of things absolutely impossible’ (p. 216).
Edward Gibbon: ‘The thinking friends of the Government are by no means sanguine’ (p. 215).
So why did the Brits persist? In a word, pride.
The British wall of superiority precluded knowledge and promoted fatal underestimation. Meeting it during the peace negotiations, John Adams wrote, ‘The pride and vanity of that nation is a disease; it is a delirium; it has been flattered and inflamed so long by themselves and others that it perverts everything.’ (p. 229).
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Posted by Steve Jeffery · Topics: Minister's Blog, The March of Folly