By: Daniel Nardini

Last year, a group of British barristers and American lawyers held a debate in Philadelphia on whether the American Revolution (1775-1783) was legal or an act of treason. The American team debated that British Parliament had deposed English King James II and therefore the Americans had the sovereign right to do so. The British team contends that open rebellion was going too far and an act of treason. They point out that U.S. President Abraham Lincoln prevented the Confederacy from seceding and forming their own government. This debate is actually nothing new. In fact, it goes all the way back to when the United States had been created and became a republic. A number of British legal experts have been arguing for over two centuries that the American revolt was never legitimate, and that they could have settled their dispute with the British Crown through legal means like the Canadians did.

To this debate I say two things. First, America won its independence and this has been reality for over 200 years—-get used to it! Second, the American Revolution and the creation of the American Republic is in fact one of the best things that ever happened to Great Britain. Yes, the United States had at first tried to conquer the British possession of Canada, but then gave up. More than that, the United States, Canada and Great Britain were able to not only secure Canada’s sovereignty but also come to a peaceful agreement to create the world’s largest undefended border between two countries. What other country besides the United States would have done this? Eventually, the United States and Great Britain went from being enemies and suspicious neighbors (as in the case of Canada) to good friends and then even solid allies. Without the United States, Great Britain would have lost the First World War, and most likely been swallowed up by the Nazi juggernaut in the Second World War. The British barely survived the Battle of Britain, but how long they could have survived without massive U.S. aid and American troops is highly questionable.

Without the United States there would have been no North Atlantic Treaty Organization and no one to help defend Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Portugal, and Greece against the Soviet Union and its allies. A lot more of this world would have been Communist without the United States. And lest we forget, the United States was a key player in helping Great Britain win the war against Argentina in the Falklands War in 1982. Finally, the United States has helped Britain in every way possible to fight against Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Without U.S. help, Al Qaeda would still be a dangerously effective organization and Osama bin Laden would still be alive. Worse, more attacks would have been launched against Great Britain. From being a British colonial outpost to an independent nation and at first an opponent and then friend and critical ally, the United States is one of the best things to happen to Great Britain. Almost nowhere else will Great Britain find a greater ally when it needs an ally than the United States. Whatever one argues about whether the American Revolution was legal or not, it was a revolution that helped Great Britain with a friend and ally when it needed it at critical times in history.