On the matter of independence, Britain likely learned a thing or two from the experience of losing its 13 North American colonies. Following that experience, it was rather quick to grant self-government to a Colony, then to progress that on to Dominion status, followed by full independence.
Bloody hell, both Australia and New Zealand actually turned down full independence when it was offered to them! It took Australia over ten years to ratify the 1931 Statute of Westminster, which conferred full independence on the then British dominions of Canada, South Africa, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand and the Irish Free State. It took a further five years before New Zealand did the same.
Both countries were offered full independence, but turned it down. (New Zealand's then deputy prime minister, Gordon Coates, described the Statute of Westminster a "Poisonous Document").
Canada may not have achieved its independence quite so easily had it not been for the groundwork laid by the American Revolution.