AP History/ British didn't have to lose the Colonies

Were it not for the oversights, mistakes, and misjudgments of British leadership, the American colonies would still be territory of Great Britain. Parliament had the power to declare the colonies exempt from taxation, increased colonial dependency on Britain, or given the colonies a form of government that while subject to the King’s veto, would have been an equally powerful counterpart of Parliament that would have ruled over the colonies alone, circumventing the need for …

…government in a colonial capital. American succession from Great Britain was avoidable had Britain not made critical political mistakes. Taxing a people who had found a new sense of freedom would only be seen as oppression, even if the taxes were light. Letting the colonies become too independent and allowing the “wrong kind,” or rebellious type of government to form was a dangerous elixir that eventually would explode in the face of the British Empire.