The Storm Before the Calm: America's Discord, the Coming Crisis of the 2020s, and the Triumph Beyond

by George Friedman

For Braddock and his officers, the manner in which the colonials fought was undignified. Wars were about not just winning but winning with grace and style. Therefore the British treated the American troops and officers with contempt. The Americans fought like barbarians. For men like Washington, who saw himself as English, an officer and a gentleman, the contempt was unbearable. It reminded them that in the eyes of the British aristocrats, they were nothing of the sort. This was the moment when the breach between Britain and the colonies opened up. Braddock turned out to be a catastrophe as a general in North America, leading his men into disaster. Yet, in spite of the British defeat, the colonials were still seen as lesser men. The war ignited the colonists’ anger at the British, particularly among the more influential classes. Out of that anger came a profound realization. It was the moment when the colonials realized that they were not English but Americans. A new sense of “nation” began to emerge from this war and from the Appalachians.