In 1776, the US declared independence from Britain, and shortly after, the British went to war with the Americans. Defeat abroad and division at home led many Britons to believe that their country was in irreversible decline. The war had cost more than £236.4 million and had apparently brought only humiliation and the loss of one of the most profitable regions of the British Empire. Yet recovery was rapid, and by the time Britain again went to war—in 1793, against revolutionary France—it was wealthier and more powerful than it had been at the beginning of George III’s reign.

1775  :  timeline  :  articles and essays  :  documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention, 1774-1789  :  digital collections  :  library of Congress. The Library of Congress. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2022, from https://www.loc.gov/collections/continental-congress-and-constitutional-...