Lord North

Since Lord North was unwilling to repeal the Tea Act off the American colonies, this led on to the Boston Tea Party, which in turn resulted in The Intolerable Acts.  Lord North’s refusal to remove the Tea Act resulted in the Boston Tea Party in 1765.  A dozen ships carrying 1,700 chests of tea sailed into American ports, the tea was then dumped into the harbor.  Since North did not remove the Tea Act even though he has been getting complaints previously, protesters decided to dump all the tea came from the East India Company into the Boston Harbor.  Next, Lord North decided to punish all of Boston and the colony of Massachusetts.  Lord North stated:

“The Americans have tarred and feathered your subjects, plundered your merchants, burnt your ships, denied all obedience to your laws and authority. Whatever may be the consequences, we must risk something; if we do not, all is over”

North hoped that the Acts would cause American colonies to acknowledge the British Parliament over their elected assemblies.  However, the harshness of this act only further weakened the relationship between Britain and the American colonies.  The Continental Congress created an agreement to avoid British goods coming into America, the congress also wanted to support Massachusetts if it was attacked.  This meant that if one colony got into an attack, all the colonies would be involved in the American Revolutionary War.

        During the battles, Lord North made many tactical errors that contributed to Britain’s loss and the American victory.  First, North made a strategic plan for the Battle of Brandywine and Germantown.  His plan was to move the British army down to Albany, where he would meet 3,000 troops under General Howe.  The error in his plan was that he had not divided his force equally and that he did not allow his army up north.  This weakened the army, and led to the British defeat.  The next battle where North had made tactical errors was during the Battle of Saratoga.  An entire army was lost at this battle, thus, this led to the British surrender.  Lastly, Lord North’s strategic errors had contributed to Britain’s debt.  Britain’s debt at the end of the war was 146,000,000, and to add on to that, it had lost all of its colonies in the last battle of Yorktown where the British side surrendered.  Lord North had lost all of Britain’s colonies and by making his strategic errors, he ‘helped’ the American colonies win the Revolutionary War.

        All in all, Lord North’s efforts to help Britain throughout the American Revolutionary era failed, therefore, weakened the bond between the American and British colonies.  This resulted in the Revolutionary War where the American side won. Prime Minister Frederick Lord North is now remembered as the man who lost America.