What was the British perspective on the Revolution?

== == That varied. There were many people in Britain, including most of the senior commanders of the British army, who were very sympathetic to the colonists arguments for liberty and thought it was wrong to try to crush them by force. Others obviously thought the colonists were just rebels and traitors who needed to be punished and kept in their place. Both of those groups regretted the war very much, either for the fact that they lost it or the fact that so many lives and so much treasure was wasted trying to prevent what they wanted all along. When, after the war, King George III learned that George Washington was going to resign his commission, disband the army, and go home to his farm rather than become ruler of America he called Washington the greatest man in the world. I believe the comment was repeated some years later when it was learned that Washington was refusing to accept election to a third term as president and was again voluntarily giving up power to go home.