I am curious as to what the national sentiment was in the British Isles during the war. How did the average person feel about the situation? Did they support the Americans in that they felt for them and supported their cries of liberty? Were they seen as dirty rebels and nothing more. Something in between?
Iv'e been researching British political cartoons during the war recently, and it seems that before the war broke out, "coffee house" politicians generally supported the republican ideals coming from America. But after war breaks out, the tone becomes very negative and constantly attacks the reasoning and sanity of the patriots.
I'm curious what any Briton would have thought, regardless of class.
In a single word?
Ungrateful.
The average American man lived a far better quality of life than an average citizen of Great Britain. For one thing, meat was a integral part of American meals and was still very much a luxury in Europe. The Americas had abundant land, many opportunities for employment and wealth and nothing remotely close to a deficiency of food. The Americans were also given the luxury of running their lands as they wished for over a hundred years thanks to Salutary Neglect, whereas most British citizens lived lives where social mobility was next to impossible.
Personally, I think the period of Salutary Neglect was a huge reason for the Revolutionary war. During that time period the colonists had become used to running things their own way but following the French and Indian War when British taxation came in, things fell apart. From the British point of view, the Americans were at long last performing the duty of paying taxes as expected of British Citizens. From the American point of view however, this was a huge violation of their freedoms that they've been accustomed to enjoying for over a century.