Why Did Britain Maintain Its Empire Essay

Why did Britain maintain most of its empire at the conclusion of the War for American Independence, while the end of the Peloponnesian War resulted in the destruction of the Athenian Empire?
Steven Pressfield the author of The War of Art says "the principle of priority States (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important and (b) you must do what's important first." Prioritization, this is what Britain did to maintain its power during the end of the American Revolutionary War. Although the American war for independence ended Britain’s 200 year empire, Britain made sure to retain it's power over the other colonies under its control, by cutting its losses with America and its allies (the French, Spanish, and Dutch),
However, “French objectives were primarily concentrated in the Caribbean (O’Shaughnessy, p. 294).” After the French successfully captured Caribbean islands, by 1778 British forces decided to focus less on the Americans and more so on recapturing and retaining those Islands. The Caribbean islands were a major source of income not only for France, but also for the Americans. Which the islands were used as a supply route to funnel resources for the War in America. The key player in the success of Britain retaining is economic power was Admiral (Adm.) George Rodney. Beginning in 1780, with his seizure of the Dutch islands of St. Eustatins and St. Martin after declaration of war with the Dutch. The assets gained from the islands merchants ships were saw as a victory from both a naval standpoint, as well as an economic success . But it was his success after the British defeat at Yorktown in 1781 (to which he was accused of its failure), against French and Spanish forces led by Comte de Grasse. Under Adm. Rodney’s command, British naval forces were able to “break the line” of the French forces in an attack against Jamaica, Britain’s largest sugar producer, resulting in a victory over the French/Spanish