As a non-American, I had always imagined that the popular view of the American War of Independence had probably exaggerated the level of popular support. But over in the TIL subreddit, today I learned that there is an apparently common view that the American Revolution was a coup and lacked popular support.
Is this a widespread view, or is it just a handful of ignorant redditors sprouting nonsense? Given that the war of independence involved thirteen states (by memory), multiple fixed battles, sieges, etc over the space of a number of years, is there any justification for considering it a coup? To me, it seems absurd, but I'm not an expert on the American Revolution.
Edit: I should say, if it had just been one person claiming the revolution was a coup, I'd just dismiss it as a weird fringe belief that one person has. But there were at least four redditors sprouting the same belief, as if it were common knowledge.
No. Far from a coup. A coup is, by definition, a sudden takeover of government. They are usually considered failures if they have not resolved themselves within seven days. The American Revolution was in no way sudden, or really that much of a takeover of government either. The people who formed the Continental Congress formed it before they really gave much thought to the idea of seceding. When the rebellion started it wasn't a sudden move by the Colonial and French Troops to sieze important British Government facilities and completely change the British Government itself. The rebellion started as a group of men demanding concessions from their government (which some of them were a part of). The British response and the Colonial Response to the Bristish response led to violence. Even after that it took almost a year for the Colonies to declare independence, and after that it took another year for France to seriously consider assisting the rebellion. So no, it was not a coup as that user points out. It was a rebellion that slowly became more and more violent.