@CorruptUser You make it sound like a single German government sent troops over of their own accord and st their own expense to fight against the colonists. Germany at the time was a collection of states, and some of those individual states, most prominently Hesse, *hired* *out* troops to the British. Hessian mercenary units weren't fighting for Britain, they were fighting for money. Other Germans fought on the colonists' side. At least ten percent of the colonists in the British part of North America were German-speaking, the largest group other than British subjects.
It's not as if the colonists were even united in the cause. About one third were Loyalists, loyal to their sovereign crown; about one third were rebels seeking independence; and about one third were neutral on the issue.
After the war, a great many Hessians stayed in America, obtaining land and citizenship from the new American government, who strongly encouraged them to stay. Clearly there were no hard feelings!
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@CorruptUser You make it sound like a single German government sent troops over of their own accord and st their own expense to fight against the colonists. Germany at the time was a collection of states, and some of those individual states, most prominently Hesse, *hired* *out* troops to the British. Hessian mercenary units weren't fighting for Britain, they were fighting for money. Other Germans fought on the colonists' side. At least ten percent of the colonists in the British part of North America were German-speaking, the largest group other than British subjects.
It's not as if the colonists were even united in the cause. About one third were Loyalists, loyal to their sovereign crown; about one third were rebels seeking independence; and about one third were neutral on the issue.
After the war, a great many Hessians stayed in America, obtaining land and citizenship from the new American government, who strongly encouraged them to stay. Clearly there were no hard feelings!