What Is More Important Than Unity Dbq

Caleb Martin
10/5/15
APUS
I did not cheat on this

----------------------------------------- The statement used discussing how the unity created by the continental army was the most important force in the Americans beating the British in the War for Independence is invalid. While it may be true that the unity and nationalistic feeling created by those fighting in this war was certainly important stating that it was more important than any other force on the American side during the war. One force that was more important than the feeling of unity was just one single man, George Washington who without the war would have been unwinnable. Another force that was significantly more important than unity was the mindset of the British entering

Considered by many the greatest and most important man in American history without George Washington it would have been impossible for the Americans to win the war. Now George Washington was simply the right man for the job, while the Continental Congress could have gone with many other candidates that had more war experience but most if not all would not have had the correct approach to the war. Washington was realistic, he realised that the British were better supplied, had better troops, and at least it was thought better leadership. He also held a confidence that often caught the eye and rallied his troops, and multiple times kept soldiers around even when their contracts on which they agreed to fight on expired. Really I feel it boils down to this, you can have all the unity in the world and fight with intensity but it won’t matter unless their is a talented leader behind you calling the shots for those who can’t correctly call them for themselves. The fact that the Americans had a leader who realised his situation and for what he was fighting for and was a smart military commander swayed the odds in the Americans favor more than unity among the

they viewed the American fighting force as a rabble in arms with incompetent leadership and no real sense of direction. While they weren’t all that far off the British went into the war feeling as if they would just walk all over the Americans and really felt little to no sense of urgency. This lack of urgency let the Americans stick around and stick around for much longer than necessary until they could come up with a strong counter attack and a plan to change the tides of war. The lack of urgency became apparent when General Howe decided again and again to stop the pursuit of the Continental Army and to not wipe it out once and for all. Having those extra days and months due to the British delay for the Americans was critical as without it the war would have been wiped out almost too early for that unity to fully foster that unity and then it would have been a complete non-factor and not just a secondary