British post-war debt: £140 million
Britain's national debt rose to £140 million after the Seven Years' War, with interest payments alone consuming half the national budget.
Snapshot · The Rest Is History
683. Washington: Hero of the Revolution (Part 1)
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Jun 28, 2026
Where this was said
Washington's Path to Revolution: Personal Grievances and Political Radicalism
At 17:20 · chapter starts 15:50
The episode now places Washington in the political context that made him a revolutionary. Britain's Seven Years' War triumph left it with a debt of £140 million — roughly ten times pre-war levels — and interest payments alone consumed half the national budget[3]. Parliament's logical solution was to tax the American colonies for their own defence and to streamline the ramshackle imperial administration. Tom Holland plays the devil's advocate brilliantly, calling these 'sensible policies for a happy America.' But the more militant colonists — Washington among them — had been left alone for generations, and they resented any interference. Washington's own motivations are sharply personal: denied a royal commission after the Seven Years' War, he nursed a deep resentment of British condescension. Falling tobacco prices hurt his finances. And when Britain in 1763 blocked westward expansion beyond the Appalachians, it killed his land speculation ambitions. Washington goes to the First Continental Congress in 1774 firmly on the hawkish wing, then turns up to the Second Continental Congress in 1775 in his militia uniform — a pointed signal that he is ready to command.
Why Washington Launched the Revolution: Land, Debt, and Wounded Pride
Washington wasn't a pure idealist. He had money problems, falling tobacco prices, and he'd been denied a royal commission. When Britain blocked western land expansion, it gutted his speculative ambitions. At every point in the breakdown of relations he was firmly on the militant, hawkish wing.
Loyalists: at least 1 in 5 Americans
At least one in five American colonists remained loyal to the Crown during the War of Independence, with some estimates putting loyalist sympathy at a quarter to a third.
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