World War 2

[MMI]

Great Britain repaid the last of her World War II debts to USA on 31/12/2006 (including interest). Now, when will the Provinces of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North & South Carolinas and Georgia, and the Colonies of Rhode Island & Providence Plantation, Connecticut, Delaware and Virginia pay for their planting, development and defence?

[Thorne]

Great Britain repaid the last of her World War II debts to USA on 31/12/2006 (including interest). Now, when will the Provinces of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, North & South Carolinas and Georgia, and the Colonies of Rhode Island & Providence Plantation, Connecticut, Delaware and Virginia pay for their planting, development and defence?

I believe all of that was paid for by the taxes which caused the rebellion in the first place. Besides, that's the fun of being an enemy. You can stiff your creditors much more easily when they're the bad guys.

And I've never fully understood how people who came over here from Europe to start fresh allowed the European monarchies to take over anyway. Who decided that the Americas belonged to the English, or French, or Spanish crowns? Probably the same people who decided that the American West belonged to the American people (read WASP's) instead of the natives who lived there.

[MMI]

I believe all of that was paid for by the taxes which caused the rebellion in the first place. Besides, that's the fun of being an enemy. You can stiff your creditors much more easily when they're the bad guys.

And I've never fully understood how people who came over here from Europe to start fresh allowed the European monarchies to take over anyway. Who decided that the Americas belonged to the English, or French, or Spanish crowns? Probably the same people who decided that the American West belonged to the American people (read WASP's) instead of the natives who lived there.

Bad guys? Us? Never!

Who had depended upon the British Army and the Royal Navy to defend them from the territiorial ambitions of the French and Spanish? Who needed money and supplies from the Mother country to establish and then defend them against the Indians and the other Powers? Who needed manpower and resources to build the colonies up and develop them?

Remember, colonies were not established for the good of the colonials, but for the benefit of the founding powers. Colonies were expected to show a profit or provide a strategic stronghold. They were owned by the French, Dutch, Spanish or British by right of discovery and possession, or conquest, or treaty, in just the same way that the US later claimed control over all of the other 37 states and the American colonies such as Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, and all the rest.

But once greed and corruption had taken hold in the colonies, who was it who treated with enemies of the Crown? The colonials. Who was refusing to pay lawful taxes? The colonials. Who attacked and intimidated Crown Agents simply for doing their duty by attempting to collect revenues due? Colonials. Who poured boiling tar over Loyalists and rolled them in feathers before driving them out of their property and sequestering it for themselves? Treacherous, criminal colonial rebels.

No, despite what "The Patriot" tells you, despite even what your history books tel you (remember, history is written by the victor) the War of Independence was an act of treason, not for liberty, but for American greed (in place of British greed I concede willingly); and it was fomented by the French and Spanish who sought to undermine British supremacy in America. Frankly, I believe Americans show very little gratitude to the French and Spanish, without whose aid they would not have achieved independence - at least, not at that time.

[Thorne]

No, despite what "The Patriot" tells you, despite even what your history books tel you (remember, history is written by the victor) the War of Independence was an act of treason, not for liberty, but for American greed (in place of British greed I concede willingly); and it was fomented by the French and Spanish who sought to undermine British supremacy in America. Frankly, I believe Americans show very little gratitude to the French and Spanish, without whose aid they would not have achieved independence - at least, not at that time.

I'm not basing my opinions on any movies, or any other fictions. And I willingly concede your points about treason and greed. Since the advent of civilization it has made the world go 'round. Even the history books are not necessarily accurate when dealing with opinions instead of facts. Sure, certain facts cannot be disputed, but the interpretations of those facts are dependent upon your views of history. If you are a British citizen you will, naturally, tend to think of the American revolution as an act of treason, something which I believe our founding fathers would agree on. American's, on the other hand, will tend to look upon it as a just war for independence from a tyrannical and "greedy" monarchy which was exploiting the colonies while not giving the people the rights of British citizens. It was a simple question of whether the profits from American resources and labor should be given to London, making their rich landowners wealthier, or remain in the Americas, making OUR rich landowners wealthier. Nothing new about that.

As for the French and Spanish, as you pointed out, they supported the rebellion not out of a love for America but out of hatred for Britain. And lets face it: we have helped the French out over the years. We gave the French more than $23 million, plus canceled debts over $3.7 million, for a worthless chunk (only 828,000 square miles) of land called Louisiana. We helped bail them out of two world wars. We even helped them return to Southeast Asia (Viet Nam) following WW2 despite promises made to Ho Chi Minh. For crying out loud, we even gave them EuroDisney! What more could they want?