Where did Britain go wrong

In class yesterday we talked about the relationship between Britain and the colonies. Some people in class said that the relationship between a colony and a country is doomed from the beginning and while I agree with that partly I think that there are always exceptions, like Porto Rico who doesn't want to be a state. I believe that Britain could have salvaged the relationship they had with the colonies. I believe that the British made a fatal mistake when the passed the Coercive Acts, better known as the "Intolerable Acts". The British thought that they would put an end to the unrest in the colonies by making an example of Massachusetts by showing the other colonies that actions like the Boston Tea Party would not be tolerated. But, as mentioned in the reading on page 108, if backfired and the other colonies saw Boston as a martyr. I believe that this also greatly contributed to the colonies seeing themselves as a whole rather than individual colonies. The colonies saw this as a threat and thought if this could happen to Massachusetts what's to stop it from happening to me. It was no coincidence that the first Continental Congress was held the same year.

If the colonies did not unify themselves I think that the British could have handled the situation. It would have been much easier if British were to deal with 13 individual colonies than all of them together. Britain could have easily overpowered the colonies if they did not stand together. They also could gain the favor of individual colonies at a time rather than trying to please all the colonies at once. Also once the colonies organized themselves at the Continental Congress they become uniform. If the colonies had not become organized then Britain could have easily dealt with the coloines because they would be unable to create a military force and would not be able to create andy legislations or proposals. It is like the old saying goes "Together we stand, divided we fall."

Link about Porto Rico: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/29/house-approves-puerto-rico-statehood-measure/