In 1982, during freshman US History class, the student teacher leading the discussion pointed at an old map with a great deal of pink across the land masses. He asked the class why there was so much pink. A boy's voice from the back of the room softly said, "Because it's pretty". The student teacher paused for a moment in silent rage before continuing with his lesson on the British Empire at the time of American independence.
The boy may have been joking but he was correct: The choice of pink really did make the map look pretty, as it must have looked to those who had an interest in the success of the Empire over the centuries. All of my immigrant ancestors came to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania so I grew up with knowledge of the significance of the city's name. A Scottish general bestowed the city with a name to honour the English Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland. It shared the PM's name with Fort Pitt, strategically located at the confluence of three rivers due to the very real possibility of French incursion. The British Empire wasn't just a distant country, and the Seven Years' War was more than a European conflict; they were RIGHT HERE. "We" were British.
We were then conditioned to regard the Empire as a villainous regime during the War of Independence and, later, the War of 1812. School did not teach us about foreign relations until the 20th century, when the Anglosphere united against a common enemy. Up to that point, it felt like a football rivalry between FC America and Kingdom United.
It is unfortunate that the United States has earned poor marks in some aspects of its relations with the mother country. We retain many vestiges of British colonialism: the original thirteen states, formerly individual colonies; the English common law as the basis of the American legal system; and above all else, the English language. At war or at peace, we have always had so much in common. If one side is sinking, the other side needs to extent a hand in aid. It's just a matter of whether one side gets pulled up or the other gets yanked down.
In 1982, during freshman US History class, the student teacher leading the discussion pointed at an old map with a great deal of pink across the land masses. He asked the class why there was so much pink. A boy's voice from the back of the room softly said, "Because it's pretty". The student teacher paused for a moment in silent rage before continuing with his lesson on the British Empire at the time of American independence.
The boy may have been joking but he was correct: The choice of pink really did make the map look pretty, as it must have looked to those who had an interest in the success of the Empire over the centuries. All of my immigrant ancestors came to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania so I grew up with knowledge of the significance of the city's name. A Scottish general bestowed the city with a name to honour the English Prime Minister of Great Britain and Ireland. It shared the PM's name with Fort Pitt, strategically located at the confluence of three rivers due to the very real possibility of French incursion. The British Empire wasn't just a distant country, and the Seven Years' War was more than a European conflict; they were RIGHT HERE. "We" were British.
We were then conditioned to regard the Empire as a villainous regime during the War of Independence and, later, the War of 1812. School did not teach us about foreign relations until the 20th century, when the Anglosphere united against a common enemy. Up to that point, it felt like a football rivalry between FC America and Kingdom United.
It is unfortunate that the United States has earned poor marks in some aspects of its relations with the mother country. We retain many vestiges of British colonialism: the original thirteen states, formerly individual colonies; the English common law as the basis of the American legal system; and above all else, the English language. At war or at peace, we have always had so much in common. If one side is sinking, the other side needs to extent a hand in aid. It's just a matter of whether one side gets pulled up or the other gets yanked down.