> Ordinary American citizens didn't like the idea of being colonizers, since they had, not long ago, been a colony themselves and fought to free themselves.
Bad comparison: the American Revolution was a group of colonialists rebelling against their colonialist bosses, not a rebellion of the colonised against the coloniser. Indeed, one of the American Revolution’s complaints was that London was too protective of Native American rights, and was limiting its colonies expansion into Native American territories. So rather than an anti-colonialist rebellion, it was a pro-colonialist rebellion
Yeah it's quite impressive how widespread this mythology is and how deeply people buy into it. Many have this anachronistic view of rough-and-ready, good old boy Americans rebelling against tea-sipping foppish British fancy lads solely in the noble pursuit of freedom. The reality is somewhat more nuanced and tbh far more interesting too.
But people like to have a simplified view of history that validates their beliefs and bristle when confronted with the reality that things weren't so simple, and their heroes were often darker, more complex and tbh more problematic than they realise.
> Indeed, one of the American Revolution’s complaints was that London was too protective of Native American rights, and was limiting its colonies expansion into Native American territories.
I've never heard of this. Do you have some links to read more about it?
> from the perspective of almost all NATIVE AMERICANS the American Revolution was an unmitigated disaster… Gradually, however, it became clear to most native groups, that an independent America posed a far greater threat to their interests and way of life than a continued British presence that restrained American westward expansion.
> With remarkably few exceptions, Native American support for the British was close to universal.
The vast majority of Native Americans supported the British in the Revolutionary War, because while the British did not always respect their rights, they did so to a greater degree than the Revolutionaries did
Bad comparison: the American Revolution was a group of colonialists rebelling against their colonialist bosses, not a rebellion of the colonised against the coloniser. Indeed, one of the American Revolution’s complaints was that London was too protective of Native American rights, and was limiting its colonies expansion into Native American territories. So rather than an anti-colonialist rebellion, it was a pro-colonialist rebellion