Independent but Intertwined
On July 4th, Americans celebrate our Independence Day, and the anniversary of our declaration of ‘no more rule by redcoats’. At the time – a mere 245 years ago – the United States and Great Britain were bitter enemies. But today, there is a ‘Special Relationship’ between the two, and both affirm the other as their most important foreign ally. What would become the United States was hardly the only territory that chafed under the rule of the British Empire. The peoples of Ireland, India, China, Apartheid South Africa, Aborigines in Australia, and more had grievences with the Crown. Immediately after the Revolutionary War, average Americans viewed Great Britain as synonymous with everything bad in the world, and vice versa. … Continued