It is a known fact that a single West Indies island could be worth more than any North American territory. The US seized the Bahamas early in the war for a short time, however; the Spanish took them towards the end of the war and bartered them to Britain in exchange for East Florida at the Paris peace conference.
I know that seizing a valuable West Indies colony isn't necessarily an easy thing to do, especially for the US at this time, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been done. Towards the end of the conflict, Washington was aware that an independent America would have to stake its own claims to territory. He knew America's future lay to the west, but with Canada firmly in Britain's hands even in peace the western frontier was in a precarious position.
Washington knew that taking Canada by force was an absurd proposition, but America had some of the greatest statesmen of the time and given enough leverage they just might be able to rest Canada from Britain in exchange for something more valuable. So he hit on the prospect that with American independence, the strategic situation in the western Atlantic would change dramatically. An independent America would mean that Britain would lose America's eastern ports, so naturally Britain would remedy this by founding a new base. Its pretty obvious that there is only one base that was equal too the task.
Sitting astride the West Indies trade routes Bermuda had been little more than a stop over on the way to America or the Caribbean, its role had change little since then, but its importance was going to change markedly with American independence. The nation who controlled this little group of islands could dominate the western Atlantic.
After Yorktown, America was no longer fighting for her freedom or England to subdue her wayward colonies. The belligerents of the conflict now merely fought for who got what when it was all over. During the 1782 campaigning season fighting had shifted back towards the Caribbean, everyone knew why, these small specks of land were some of the most valuable real estate on the planet at the time. The Americans of course would play little part in that theater of operations as not having a single warship larger than a frigate. But as many Americans said then and now, "where there is a will there is a way".
The US had been laboring for several years to complete her first ship-of-the-line. The USS America had been being slowly built endlessly delayed by lack of funds and material. But now, Congress faced with the last possible chance to join Canada with the American republic was pulling out all the stops to get her to sea.
I know that seizing a valuable West Indies colony isn't necessarily an easy thing to do, especially for the US at this time, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have been done. Towards the end of the conflict, Washington was aware that an independent America would have to stake its own claims to territory. He knew America's future lay to the west, but with Canada firmly in Britain's hands even in peace the western frontier was in a precarious position.
Washington knew that taking Canada by force was an absurd proposition, but America had some of the greatest statesmen of the time and given enough leverage they just might be able to rest Canada from Britain in exchange for something more valuable. So he hit on the prospect that with American independence, the strategic situation in the western Atlantic would change dramatically. An independent America would mean that Britain would lose America's eastern ports, so naturally Britain would remedy this by founding a new base. Its pretty obvious that there is only one base that was equal too the task.
Sitting astride the West Indies trade routes Bermuda had been little more than a stop over on the way to America or the Caribbean, its role had change little since then, but its importance was going to change markedly with American independence. The nation who controlled this little group of islands could dominate the western Atlantic.
After Yorktown, America was no longer fighting for her freedom or England to subdue her wayward colonies. The belligerents of the conflict now merely fought for who got what when it was all over. During the 1782 campaigning season fighting had shifted back towards the Caribbean, everyone knew why, these small specks of land were some of the most valuable real estate on the planet at the time. The Americans of course would play little part in that theater of operations as not having a single warship larger than a frigate. But as many Americans said then and now, "where there is a will there is a way".
The US had been laboring for several years to complete her first ship-of-the-line. The USS America had been being slowly built endlessly delayed by lack of funds and material. But now, Congress faced with the last possible chance to join Canada with the American republic was pulling out all the stops to get her to sea.