Which of the following was/were the reasons for the defeat of British during the American War of Independence ? 1. The remoteness of the American Continent and the lack of good roads 2. The British authorities failed to rally the loyalist Americans 3. The Americans benefited from the extraordinary military leadership of George Washington 4. The Americans had access to superior arms and ammunition Select the correct answer using the code given below :
- (a)1, 2 and 4
- (b)3 only
- (c)2 and 3 only
- (d)1, 2 and 3
Correct — D, 1, 2 and 3. The single statement that fails is the fourth, and it fails badly, which is what makes the item answerable without weighing the other three too finely. The Continental Army was the poorly equipped side throughout: short of muskets, chronically short of gunpowder, short of uniforms, blankets and pay, and dependent for much of its later supply on France. Britain, by contrast, fielded the best-armed and best-drilled professional army and the strongest navy in the world. Statements 1, 2 and 3 all name real British handicaps — an ocean three thousand miles wide and roadless country beyond the ports, which made every barrel of supplies and every reinforcement slow and costly; a failure to organise the substantial body of colonists loyal to the Crown into an effective force; and on the other side, Washington's ability to keep an army in the field for eight years and avoid the decisive defeat Britain needed.
- (a)1, 2 and 4 — It carries the one false statement, number 4, and drops the true one about Washington. The Americans' advantage lay in geography, motivation, leadership and eventually the French alliance — never in weaponry, which was their standing weakness.
- (b)3 only — Washington's leadership was real but was not the sole cause, and reducing the war to one man ignores the two structural problems that shaped it — the distance Britain had to fight across, and its failure to convert loyalist sympathy into military strength.
- (c)2 and 3 only — Correct as far as it goes, but it drops statement 1, and the sheer difficulty of projecting force across the Atlantic is the most widely cited British disadvantage of the whole war. Every soldier, gun and biscuit had to cross an ocean, and orders from London took weeks to arrive.
The American War of Independence ran from 1775 to 1783 between Britain and thirteen of its North American colonies. The Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on 4 July 1776. The turning point was Saratoga in 1777, whose result brought France into the war on the American side in 1778, followed by Spain and the Dutch Republic; the decisive land action was the surrender at Yorktown in 1781, and the Treaty of Paris of 1783 recognised American independence.
Questions of this shape reward finding the one implausible statement rather than certifying all four. Ask which claim runs against the general picture of the war, and 'the Americans had superior arms' stands out at once — the enduring images of the conflict are of an under-supplied army, not a better-armed one. Once statement 4 is out, only one option contains all three of the remaining statements. Note also what the statement list leaves out and what a fuller answer would include: the French alliance after 1778, which supplied money, arms and a fleet, and the political fact that the war was never popular in Britain.
- The war lasted from 1775 to 1783; the Declaration of Independence was adopted on 4 July 1776 by the Second Continental Congress.
- The American victory at Saratoga in 1777 persuaded France to enter the war on the American side in 1778.
- The Continental Army was persistently short of arms, powder, clothing and pay, and relied heavily on French supply.
- The surrender at Yorktown in 1781 effectively ended the fighting, and the Treaty of Paris in 1783 recognised the United States.
- Assuming the winning side must have been the better-armed one — here it was the worse-armed one.
- Overweighting a single great commander when the question offers structural causes as well.
- Forgetting the loyalists altogether; a large minority of colonists sided with the Crown, and statement 2 turns on Britain's failure to use them.
The GAT sets one or two world-history statement items each year, usually on a revolution, and usually decidable by spotting the single statement that contradicts the standard account.
Consider the following statements concerning the American War of Independence: 1. The Americans raised the slogan, 'No taxation without representation'. 2. The American merchants resorted to the boycott of the British products. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
- (a) 1 only
- (b) 2 only
- (c) Both 1 and 2
- (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(c) Both 1 and 2
The causes of the same war, where the 2016 item asks about its outcome — taken together the two questions cover the topic the way the GAT actually tests it.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The entry of France into the American War of Independence on the American side followed most directly from
- (a)the Boston Tea Party
- (b)the American victory at Saratoga
- (c)the surrender at Yorktown
- (d)the Treaty of Paris
Answer(b) the American victory at Saratoga — the 1777 result convinced France that the Americans could win, and the alliance followed in 1778.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Treaty of Paris that recognised the independence of the United States was signed in
- (a)1776
- (b)1781
- (c)1783
- (d)1787
Answer(c) 1783 — 1776 is the Declaration, 1781 the surrender at Yorktown, and 1787 the drafting of the American Constitution.