American Strategy. American strategy evolved as the conflict progressed. Initially the colonists were limited to reacting to British initiatives, but they later began fighting the war for the purposes of evicting the British from certain areas or making the fight more costly than the British wished to bear. British Strategy. The initial aim of the British was to isolate New England from the other colonies and to control the seaboard by holding a number of port cities. Later in the war the British opened a front in the South.