• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

The Greatest Empire in History

The Greatest Empire in History?

  • Persian Empire

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mayan Empire

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Portuguese Empire

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Spanish Empire

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Russian Empire

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    49
The British Empire -- The largest empire the world has ever seen, conquering almost a third of the world and leaving its mark indelibly upon modern life. The architect of the Industrial Revolution, international diplomacy, modern civil reforms and labour laws, it is very true to say that we still live in the world created by the British Empire today. For more than a century it remained the foremost global power, administering and arbiting international disputes around the world. With territory on every continent on Earth, there was no corner of the globe that did not feel the power of the British Empire.
Talk about biased. :lol:
 
Mate, that was after you overthrew the king. And colonised it. AFTER all that, then they voted to become a state.

That's still colonialism.

And as for Puerto Rico -- I am shocked that you think switching one far-off capital for another is anything but colonisation. If the US had 'liberated' Puerto Rico, surely they would have given it back to the Puerto Ricans?

Yet it's still a US territory. Very obviously an imperial holding. Not that that's a bad thing.

Mate, in the long run nobody that doesn't want to be connected to the union is not part of it. Except our southern states that is.:lol:
 
Mate, in the long run nobody that doesn't want to be connected to the union is not part of it. Except our southern states that is.:lol:

That's patently absurd. In fact, the entire point of your civil war was (besides half your country wanting to own black people like cattle) to decide whether or not places in the US had any right to decide if they should stay in the US.

As you know, the answer is overwhelmingly -- no, they have no choice.

I am utterly flabbergasted by your refusal to admit that places like Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Hawaii are not American colonies part of an American empire, because literally every American source both contemporary and modern regards them as such.

Why are you trying to say they're not?
 
On the contrary, I think literally every major facet of American culture is fundamentally British.

The US speaks English -- from Britain. The US follows the common law -- from Britain. The US political system mirrors the House of Commons and House of Lords, and many political theorists even think the US's system ought more accurately be called Parliamentary than Presidential, because besides Obama, nearly every president has sought the approval of Congress and adhered to Congressional supremacy.

The US venerates English traditions, celebrates British holidays, uses British measurements, and all of its 'formative legends' are fundamentally identical (or outright identical) to those in Britain. Places in the US are named after Britain, and monuments and statues are all in British style.

The US teaches a historical causal chain starting in the same place as Britain's, and following Britain's until 1776, at which point it diverges -- but even then only slightly. Fundamentally, the US has always and continues to look to Europe, Britain in particular, for its 'raison d'etre'.

The US is founded on British ideals of Enlightenment and Protestantism. American democracy? English Civil War/Parliamentary Supremacy. American religion? Thank God for Henry VIII.

The US is built off of British principles of free-trade and entrepreneurism. Industrialism, itself a British invention, was and maybe remains the guiding force in American economic thought.

Even things as minor and minute as the US flag are directly based on Britain, along with things like the US national anthem being in cadence with British marching songs of the time, and the US taking its naming and military conventions directly from Britain.

In sum, the US is thoroughly and totally British -- with the caveat that they don't really like being called such. Yet their language, culture, art, history, government, laws and people are all identical or directly descended from British traditions.

It seems rather obvious from my viewpoint, but I stress that it's not a bad thing. For some reason, some might take this all as an insult -- but it's surely not meant to be. After all, you ARE colonists, how could you possibly not be based off the coloniser? But at the same time you've done something wonderful and exceptional with what Britain has given you, which we all think is very impressive.

Just as a child must acknowledge the parent, don't try to claim the US is not the child of Britain. Instead marvel at what that child has accomplished -- or to quote Isaac Newton: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."




Ever been here? :mrgreen:
 
The American Empire is the greatest in history. It's the only one that has ever truly been global.

The entire world is more or less "Americanized" today.

The British Empire was global. Australia, New Zealand, India, parts of Africa, Canada, the New England colonies... seems pretty global to me. ;)
 
That's patently absurd. In fact, the entire point of your civil war was (besides half your country wanting to own black people like cattle) to decide whether or not places in the US had any right to decide if they should stay in the US.

Well, apparently cattle were treated far better than the Irish were, so we'll take having being 'treated little cattle' over 'being treated like Irish' in the Empire, if it's all the same to you.
 
Yes; in fact, I've lived there for a total of seven years over the course of my life. I have great respect and admiration for the country and its people.

And I stand by my assessment.

Do you disagree with it?


Yes and no.


Obviously we partake of English history, law and culture to a substantial degree.... we began as English colonies after all. Nor do I dispute that America has "most in common" with Britain and the other former Brit colonies like Canada and Australia... we share a language (more or less) and a substantial amount of cultural and legal underpinnings.

However, the US has diverged greatly since colonial days. Hacking territories out of the wilderness, warring with the native tribes ( and anyone else in the way) in vicious combats where women and children on both sides were massacred, ambitiously pushing until our borders were "sea to shining sea", and the nature of our break with Britain, have made us a people who are far more individualistic; far less group-oriented; far more distrustful of authority; considerably more violent and warlike (at least compared to modern Britain); and generally more stubborn and nonconformist.

The bit about our government being parliamentary is all wrong. Just because we have two Houses doesn't make it at all Parlimentary; one party can control the Senate while the other holds the House and Presidency, for instance, something that would not happen in UK, and the "loyal opposition" actually has the power in many cases to prevent much bills from passing. Also the Presidency has grown vastly more powerful than originally conceived, with vastly more power concentrated in one man than is the case with the PM... and again, the President can be of one party while the House AND Senate are dominated by the other party; this happens often here, but not in the UK.

I will grant you there are many similarities; as I said, the US and UK and former Brit colonies have more in common with each other than with any other nation on Earth. However there are fundamental differences as well that cannot be ignored, which make the American people a culture in their own right, and not only a subculture of Britain.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom