Revolutionary War Political Effects

American success in the American Revolutionary War created a new nation, while British failure tore away a part of their empire. Such consequences were inevitably going to have effects, but historians debate the extent of each compared to that of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars which would test Britain soon after their American experience. Modern readers might expect Britain to have suffered greatly as a result of losing the war, but the fact is it's possible to argue that the war was not only survived, but to such an extent that Britain could fight a very long war against Napoleon right next door soon after.

Britain proved more resilient than many were expecting.

FINANCIAL EFFECTS
Britain spent a huge amount of money fighting the Revolutionary War,
The hard core of government was criticized for the way they had run the war, and for the apparent power they had, with fears that Parliament had ceased to represent the views of the people - albeit the wealthy people - and was simply approving everything the government did. Petitions flooded from the ‘Association Movement’, demanding a pruning of the king’s government, the expansion of who could vote, and a redrawing of the electoral map. Some even demanded universal manhood suffrage.

The power the Association Movement had around early 1780 was huge, and it managed to achieve widespread support. It did not last long. In June 1780 the Gordon Riots paralyzed London for almost a week, with destruction and murder. While the cause of the riots was religious, landowners and moderates were frightened away from supporting any more reform and the Association Movement declined.

Political machinations throughout the early 1780s also produced a government with little inclination for constitutional reform. The moment