What should Britons think about the American Revolution?

Or what we know as the American War of Independence. I was asked this in an e-mail earlier on today and I had to admit that it was something that simply isn't discussed. Indeed, I find myself deeply ignorant on the subject. This is the extent of my understanding:

• Britain and France fought the Seven Years' War. Britain won. North America was British.
• The war cost a fortune. Britain imposed a tax on Americans in order to pay for it. After all, the Americans were the major beneficiaries.
• The Americans rebelled. The French, bitter from defeat, helped them.
  
• British public opinion was divided on whether to fight the war or not, with many radicals, Ulstermen and Scotsmen finding themselves in sympathy with the rebels' ideals. That, coupled with American persistance, eventually caused the House of Commons to give up the effort.
  
• The Americans got the 13 states, the British kept the rest.
• The Americans wrote a federal constitution. With the exception of a change from a king to an elected president it was largely a codification of the unwritten British version.
• The French found they couldn't pay their bills. The King called an Estates General and a revolution broke out plunging Europe into war for the next 25 years.