Was the Revolutionary War a Good Idea?

Bryan Caplan has a good post on whether libertarians should celebrate American independence. I have often thought that the Revolutionary War was a horrible idea that actually turned out much better than anyone should have expected.

The French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions made their peoples vastly worse off. Successful Revolutions of Independence from colonial powers in Asia and Africa almost always resulted in corrupt governments that were far worse than those that they replaced.

Before our revolution, the British treated us fairly well. Indeed, at the time we were better governed than most of humanity. It was irrational to assume that after a successful Revolution we would be able to set up a decent government. Yet we did.

The U.S. was extremely lucky to have a leader such as George Washington who didn't actually try to establish himself as a dictator. Historically rare are men like Washington who are willing and able to use violence to expel an established power yet unwilling to take absolute power themselves.