Thinking about independence since it is the Fourth of July.
Over the centuries it is amusing how close the United States has become with the United Kingdom (descendant of Great Britain). So much so that both the President of the United States and a candidate for the job both travel to the UK and talk about how the people should vote or have voted. People talk about what the Founding Fathers thought. Well, I wonder what they would have thought about the chumminess of the US and the UK, their enemy. But, the UK was also their parent in a way.
Teenagers need to learn to separate from the parent. To do things on their own. To be responsible for their own actions. While under the protection of the parent that is more difficult. So independence was good for us and ultimately probably good for the UK too.
Some American values, manners, and customs originate from the UK. In some cases they have moved on where we still adhere strongly to things as they were. In some cases we replaced them with other European, African, or Asian customs where Britain still adheres strongly to the things. Life in America necessitated a social evolution of sorts. No so much Social Darwinism, but in the early colonial period and westward expansion, the people who clung too strongly to how they grew up and failed to adapt to the new life often failed. Having the independence to adapt was good for their survival.
Yet, given the closeness of the US and UK and as Americans pine over the UK princes, one’s wife, and children, an interesting thought experiment is re-unification. The idea is not unprecedented. In 1707 and 1800, London’s parliament agreed to an Act of Union first with Scotland and then with Ireland to establish their representation in the national government. Given these occurred both before and after the colonial independence, it seems like this is a route which could have been taken. That both Scotland and Ireland had parliaments probably aided the unions. Melding the US government with the UK would be much more difficult.
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