If Britain had won the War

No te entiendo?   Y que es esta chingadera de Ingles?

Sure, if Britain had been successful in suppressing the uprising they would have made an example of the leaders, especially those who had signed the Declaration of Independence and, (based upon how Britain dealt with the leaders of similar uprisings before and after), it would have been harsh and brutal resulting in treason trials, executions and transportation to Australia as well as having their land confiscated - the right to bear arms would not exist (nor would the right to bare arms or arm bears). This would have left the 13-Colonies in no position to mount a second uprising. The losing colonists would have received a hefty tax increase, (just as they did for winning), however they probably would have been granted token representation in the British Parliament before being absorbed into British North America. I suspect that retaliation against the French for their involvement would have ultimately resulted in British North America becoming Canada considerably sooner than it did. As I outlined earlier, the borders in North America would have run North-South rather than East-West as they do now. The American Civil War would not have happened and the subsequent push west would not have happened, so the phrase "Wild West" would now refer to Devon and Cornwall and bits of Wales.

The root cause of both the American and French revolutions was the Seven Years' War resulting in heavy taxation in France and Britain to pay for it. Because the French lost all the land they occupied in North America to Britain, Spain and the Native Americans and imposed a regressive tax system on their population the French Revolution was inevitable. So securing a victory against the British for the 13 Colonies without regaining any of the land back for France was of no comfort to the people of France - win, lose or not fight at all would only have changed when the French Revolution occurred, not if. However the outcome of the "13-Colony Uprising" would have determined how Britain reacted to the French Revolution. It would also have affected Britain's relationship with Spain, and thus Spain's relationship with France and Portugal so not have led to Spain's decline as a world power, the Spanish Empire would have lasted a while longer until it reached the tipping-point of owning an empire costing more than it reaped.

What is harder to predict is the effect on Britain itself since losing the 13-colonies was seen as an embarrassment at the time but didn't affect Britain's position as a world power, the British Empire continued unaffected for another century or more - India and the West Indies were far more lucrative prizes than the plantations of Virginia et al. History suggests that Britain would have continued to be Nasty Colonial B*st*rds regardless of the outcome. On the upside, Mel Gibson would be an Australian sheep farmer who wears Union Jack underpants and has a picture of HRH Elizabeth Windsor over his bed.

In other words, that bloody war could, in retrospect, be seen as the beginning of the end for a once great country.

I 'ad that Nigel Farage in the back of me cab once.................