To answer your second question: no, it is not quite so. The colonies had a fair bit of independence it is true, but also quite a bit of rule from afar mixed in. The first few points in the Declaration of Independence specifically point out that the local legislatures were not allowed to pass laws without approval, approval that often nev…
To answer your second question: no, it is not quite so. The colonies had a fair bit of independence it is true, but also quite a bit of rule from afar mixed in. The first few points in the Declaration of Independence specifically point out that the local legislatures were not allowed to pass laws without approval, approval that often never came down one way or the other, along with being dissolved because the crown did not like their decisions. One might wonder why there were British regulars in Boston if they were only there for protecting the colonists, when the fighting against the French and their allies was much further west. Those Great Lakes are a pretty fair march from eastern Massachusetts.
In fact, pardon me for asking, but have you read the Declaration? It pretty much addresses all your points, such that it is confusing that you would state what you did in light of having read it.
Now, I would be sympathetic to the argument that the Articles of Confederacy might have been a better version than the Constitution, or an argument that with the benefit of hindsight the Constitution could have been a lot better written. This argument that the Americans threw off a good government for a bad one, however, that's just silly, as is the claim that the colonies were all but independent already. If a twelve week round trip from London makes government impossible you are left conceding that the entire British Empire was impossible to be governed by the British, as the Americas were one of the closer parts. In fact they sent out their governors and administrators to the localities, setting up local governments to fulfill the wishes of the center. It was a pretty loose joint by modern standards, sure, but that was just the reality of the technology at the time. It doesn't mean that empires never existed, or a people couldn't be ruled by a distant government.
To answer your second question: no, it is not quite so. The colonies had a fair bit of independence it is true, but also quite a bit of rule from afar mixed in. The first few points in the Declaration of Independence specifically point out that the local legislatures were not allowed to pass laws without approval, approval that often never came down one way or the other, along with being dissolved because the crown did not like their decisions. One might wonder why there were British regulars in Boston if they were only there for protecting the colonists, when the fighting against the French and their allies was much further west. Those Great Lakes are a pretty fair march from eastern Massachusetts.
In fact, pardon me for asking, but have you read the Declaration? It pretty much addresses all your points, such that it is confusing that you would state what you did in light of having read it.
Now, I would be sympathetic to the argument that the Articles of Confederacy might have been a better version than the Constitution, or an argument that with the benefit of hindsight the Constitution could have been a lot better written. This argument that the Americans threw off a good government for a bad one, however, that's just silly, as is the claim that the colonies were all but independent already. If a twelve week round trip from London makes government impossible you are left conceding that the entire British Empire was impossible to be governed by the British, as the Americas were one of the closer parts. In fact they sent out their governors and administrators to the localities, setting up local governments to fulfill the wishes of the center. It was a pretty loose joint by modern standards, sure, but that was just the reality of the technology at the time. It doesn't mean that empires never existed, or a people couldn't be ruled by a distant government.