Why did Britain fail to hold on to its colonies?

I am not sure this can be answered simply and you could write a book trying to explain it. However, as an average member of public with a general interest in history, if I was to sum it up, I wouldn't say there was one single reason. There were many reasons. read more

In terms of why Britain "failed to hold onto its colonies". The short answer is that, after the second world war, it really didn't want to, because they were too expensive, and the UK was coming under a lot of pressure from the USA to give them up. read more

For the same reasons Britain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States could not hold on to theirs. The people of the colonies did not give their primary allegiance to the colonial power, but to their homeland. read more

Some of the colonies had governors apointed by the British to run their colony. They also didnt want the colonies to engage in trade with other countries so they would try to control ports. The proclamation of 1763 also stated that colonists couldn't move into the land west of the Appalachian mountains. read more