One of the U.K.’s lesser known, but historically important, events is celebrated today. Two hundred and forty five years ago, the decision was made to expel a set of colonies from the warm, peaceful and prosperous embrace of the Imperial family of nations. The Great American Expulsion. Truth be told, we hadn’t been sending our best people to those colonies for a long time. They’d become infamous for incompetence and shoddy thinking.
The accidental spillage of a shipload of tea by the clumsy natives was the final straw. London despatched the Chief Imperial Bailiff, William Howe, to serve notice of eviction. Washington ran, but he couldn’t hide forever, and by 1783 he was forced, most reluctantly, to accept full responsibility for governing the rabble in America. Cornwallis and co returned to Blighty in triumph. Britain was free at last.
A friend has suggested that modern day Americans see the whole episode differently. What can I say? It’s the land of fake news, and the shoddy thinking of the late 1700s is clearly still a speciality. But the truth of the modern American is complex. The more republican their language, the greater the likelihood that they have a picture of the Queen on their mantelpiece…
The Mexile 
On a more serious note, I enjoyed reading this. Señor Coolidge has a more informed take on independence….
https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/speech-on-the-occasion-of-the-one-hundred-and-fiftieth-anniversary-of-the-declaration-of-independence/
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It did not help that George the third was a little batty. The loss of the American colonies helped the king set up, turn into a dog and pony show, instead of a governing head of state gig. It spared your nation the upheaval France enjoyed a few years after your American friends got their divorce.
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Fortunately for our monarchy, the British public have never quite gone beyond the ‘Bit miffed’ stage of the revolutionary process.
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“The more republican their language, the greater the likelihood that they have a picture of the Queen on their mantelpiece…” Or computer table.
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I pictured you standing to attention before the Royal postcard and singing her special song on July 4th…
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