Internal Political Divides
It’s obvious that British and colonial politicians didn’t see eye to eye. After all, revolutions are antithetical to the status quo, with conflicting political factions often clamoring for change amid threats of secession or war. What many Americentric historical accounts tend to gloss over, however, is the internal condition of British politics during the Revolutionary Period, which was in a virtual state of upheaval. In addition to squabbling over the course and nature of the conflict in North America, Parliament argued incessantly about many other pressing issues. The American dilemma was, in all reality, just another point of debate in London, where partisan tempers had been simmering since the seventeenth century.
Great Britain’s two opposing factions during the Colonial Period were the Tories and the Whigs. Although neither held official party status by the time of the American Revolution, hereditary patrons of each group maneuvered against one another over the course of the conflict. Each traditionally held opposing views of the other, particularly over the issues of succession, constitutional authority, socioeconomic mandates, and religious tolerance. The Glorious Revolution (1688-89) had an enormous impact on British society and contributed to an expanding divide between the two groups. Divisive partisanship and deep factionalism plagued the British government by the time King George III ascended the throne, in 1760.
Lord Frederick North, Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1770-82, was largely a Tory sympathizer, and historically credited with England’s political mishandling of the American War of Independence. He resigned from office, in 1782, following Cornwallis’s embarrassing surrender at Yorktown the previous year. Whig opposition cited his punitive strategy towards the colonies as misguided and ineffective. Pundits also claimed that his partisan agenda blinded him to the fact that British forces lacked popular colonial support during the Southern Campaign.
Charles Watson-Wentworth, who opposed Tory sentiments for years, was appointed North’s successor and promptly recognized the Continentals’ call independence, reliving the Crown of its American Colonies and a costly, mismanaged war.