“That it is the right and privilege of the subjects to protest for remedy of law to the king and parliament against sentences pronounced by the lords of session, providing the same does not stop execution of these sentences.”
– Claim of Right 1689 (or “The Declaration of the Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland containing the Claim of Right and the offer of the Croune to the King and Queen of England”), Paragraph 41 – as passed by the Convention of the Estates, a sister body to the Parliament of Scotland
Exposure to British history (and larger British culture) in my early childhood
To some degree, I actually grew up seeing the British as the “bad guys” of the American Revolution. They were the tyrannical regime against whom we had been fighting during our war of independence. Thus, it actually surprised me to learn that the British have since become our most important allies (as I describe here). I remember being surprised, for example, at seeing British and American soldiers fighting alongside each other in various World War II movies. I grew up on many movies, historical and otherwise, that took place in the British Isles – or had British characters, of one sort or another. To some degree, that’s because Americans routinely watch a fair number of British movies, like the various Harry Potter movies of my youth. And, even in many American movies, British characters and ideas can figure prominently in the story. Playful stereotypes of the British can show them as “stuffy” and “unemotional,” while the British (in their turn) sometimes portray Americans as unsophisticated “cowboys” and “rubes.” Nonetheless, the two sides of this “great Atlantic divide” usually see each other in a more favorable light today. And, in many ways, this is as it should be. The controversies of the American Revolution and the War of 1812 are usually put aside when Britons and Americans interact, and most disputations on these subjects tend to be fairly good-natured today (although they would not have been such at the time). In high school, I was often watching movies and reading books which undertook to depict the British experience of World War II. These movies are a great contribution to the history, and I learned much from watching various British movies about their own (truly vital) role in this conflict. These included “The Dam Busters,” “Battle of Britain,” and “Sink the Bismarck!” (among others).
Exposure to British history in high school, college, and the period shortly after graduation
But, in high school, I had only a limited exposure to British history. The only class where I was then studying it was “world history,” whose name rightly indicates a much broader focus than anywhere in the English-speaking world. Nonetheless, I did get some exposure to some prominent British topics – such as the Crusades, the Magna Carta, King Henry the Eighth, or Queen Elizabeth the First. My teacher was well-versed in British history, and helped me to get some early exposure to the complex history of their monarchy. I also got some limited exposure to British history in my Western Civilization classes in college, and watched the landmark British documentary “The World at War” as well. This is a British-made series about World War II, which may still be the most comprehensive documentary ever made on that particular subject. Although it is not limited to the British perspective, it certainly gives some helpful insights into their own experience of that conflict. Later, after I graduated, I wanted to learn something about the history of various other countries as well. I started off by watching a 6-hour television history of India, which I had heard about from a friend while in college. The film was British-made, and focused its final episode on the British colonization in India. This, too, was enlightening. But I also wanted to learn something about some other countries, with whom we often engage in trade. This eventually led me to search for (and find) a television history of Canada, which was 32 hours long. As one of our country’s closest neighbors, Canada is now one of America’s biggest trading partners – and, as you may know, it is a former British colony as well. This series was fascinating, and ignited a lasting interest in Canadian history as well. I had also noticed that the United Kingdom was (at that time, at least) one of our country’s top ten trading partners. This led me to search for (and find) a television history of Britain as well. And I soon found one, which was 15 hours long. My dad watched it with me, and both of us were struck by how good it had been. He also later watched the aforementioned Canada and India series with me as well, which I had already seen before.
Learning about British history through movies, documentaries, and informal research
To make a long story short, my browsing eventually led me to watch many other great documentaries about British history, which I have blogged about elsewhere. These included histories of England, Scotland, Wales, and (Northern) Ireland – and one about the Irish rebellion of 1916. This created the independent “Republic of Ireland.” I also watched a BBC-made television history of America, which was 10 hours long. It was helpful to hear a British perspective on our own history in this series. I watched a television history of the British monarchy, which was 17 hours long. I also watched documentaries about various specific periods of early British history – such as the Celts, the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings, and the Normans. I watched documentaries about various medieval and Renaissance-era British monarchs, or other phases of the British monarchy. I watched an American-made documentary about Queen Victoria’s Empire, and a British-made television history of twentieth-century Britain. I watched documentaries about various British conflicts – from “The Wars of the Roses: A Bloody Crown,” to “The Boer War,” to the “BBC History of World War II.” I watched a British-made documentary about World War One, and a joint British-and-American documentary about the twentieth-century Cold War. I’ve also watched a television history of Australia, another former British colony – and have done some very basic research about New Zealand. And I’ve watched some British documentaries about subjects ranging from the Dark Ages, to Ancient Athens and Sparta, to a brief overview of Chinese history. It’s easier to get documentaries in English about various English-speaking countries, or which are made by various English-speaking networks. This may be why British films have been such an influence upon my own development, particularly regarding the history of the British Isles themselves. Even the 1962 movie “Lawrence of Arabia,” or the 1982 film “Gandhi,” could be relevant to my own fascination with Great Britain. The more that I learned about these things, the more fascinating they became to me. This led me to write analyses of some forgotten British wars – such as the Seven Years’ War, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Napoleonic Wars. And what engrossing subjects I found these things to be!
British history pertains to some of my informal research interests, and to my family history
Thus, I may have some basic background in British history. In many ways, this may be a good thing, because it has since become relevant to one of my informal research interests. My own biggest specialty within history may be the various influences upon the United States Constitution. Here, too, the influence of Great Britain can be strongly felt for me. This might seem ironic, because the American Constitution was written by people who had rebelled against the British Empire. But, as I show here, our Founding Fathers remained proud of their British heritage, even after 1776. They were influenced by various British laws – such as the Magna Carta (1215), the Petition of Right (1628), the Habeas Corpus Act (1679), and the English Bill of Rights (1689). They were influenced by British jurists, such as Sir Edward Coke and Sir William Blackstone. And they were influenced by British philosophers – such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, James Harrington, Algernon Sidney, and David Hume. Even the economist Adam Smith influenced the Founding Fathers (as I show here). And I have ambitions to read David Hume’s six-volume “History of England,” at some point in the distant future. Thus, the influence of our British heritage can certainly be felt here in the United States. My interest in Britain can also prove surprisingly helpful with understanding my own family history. And the influence of the historical British Empire can certainly be felt in the larger world today. Again, the British may remain our most important allies (as I show here).
Magna Carta (1215), the basis of the unwritten British Constitution
Conclusion: British history continues to offer us many insights into American culture
Thus, in many ways, we continue to be influenced by our British heritage – and, in many ways, many of us continue to be culturally British. To some degree, our country has welcomed immigrants from many other countries – and so, to some degree, have the British Isles themselves. This is as it should be. We should continue to welcome people of many different races and backgrounds today. But our British heritage still needs to be taught today. Along with its darker aspects (such as imperialism), the positive aspects of its legacy need to be acknowledged today, at least by some. With apologies to the Ancient Greeks and Romans (among others), the very idea of liberty may itself be something of a British idea – or, at least, partially so. This is why I’m glad that I’ve undertaken some informal study of British history. And this is why I plan to pursue this much-engrossing hobby even more in the future. By learning something about our British heritage (regardless of where exactly our ancestors come from), we learn more about ourselves. We learn something about how our country rose … to become the greatest power in the world. And we learn something about what makes our country great (more about that here), and how to preserve the best aspects of its legacy.
“That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king and that all imprisonments and prosecutions for such petitioning are contrary to law.
That for redress of all grievances and for the amending, strengthening and preserving of the laws, parliaments ought to be frequently called and allowed to sit, and the freedom of speech and debate secured to the members.
And they do claim, demand and insist upon all and sundry these matters as set forth as their undoubted right and liberties, and that no declarations, doings or proceedings to the prejudice of the people in any of the said matters, ought in any way to be drawn hereafter, in consequence or example, but that all forfeitures, fines, loss of offices, imprisonments, banishments, pursuits, persecutions, tortures and rigorous executions be considered, and the parties harmed be redressed.”
– Claim of Right 1689 (or “The Declaration of the Estates of the Kingdom of Scotland containing the Claim of Right and the offer of the Croune to the King and Queen of England”), Paragraphs 42-44 – as passed by the Convention of the Estates, a sister body to the Parliament of Scotland
*****
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Note: These posts do not have to be read in any particular order. Since time periods overlap, there isn’t much chronological order to observe here.
See also this series about
Modern languages
Note: These posts do not have to be read in any particular order. Since time periods overlap, there isn’t much chronological order to observe here.
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