The real England

 

"Why the US is British and should never have left the British Empire” is a grossly mistitled YouTube clip featuring Über-gadfly Edward Dutton (The Jolly Heretic). The title is probably trolling, since Dutton seems to be arguing for the exact opposite position in the actual presentation: the United States is actually “the real England” (representing the Anglo-Saxons), while Britain is “Norman” and “French”.

It´s not entirely clear whether the Heretic actually believes this, or whether he is only describing a pervasive Anglo-American worldview. He references the book “The rise and fall of Anglo-America” by E Kaufmann, which I haven´t read. Even so, the bottom line is that the colonies did the right thing when breaking with the British Empire!

The views in this clip (and, I suppose, Kaufmann´s book) could be contrasted with “American Nations” by Colin Woodard, who argues that the United States has always been multi-national or multi-ethnic, with several of the “nations” being English-speaking. Dutton touches on this when he mentions the contrast between the Puritan colonies and the Cavalier settlements further south, but then leaves the topic.

Still, an interesting contribution.