How is the American War for Independance taught in the UK?

[TheShogun]

Well over here in Luxembourg, the American war of Independance is only touched upon briefly, because of the financial strain for France in their involvement. Which contributed to the french revolution.

 

[KLJT]

Typical American arrogance to assume it's taught at all.

Umm...not really. It was sort of a big deal. To actually go against a major power and win wasn't really all that common of an occurance. It also seems like it's be something of an important thing to learn about considering that a lot of people consider it to be the turning point in colonialization and whatnot. Not to mention the fact that we fought the British again not a whole hell of a lot later in the War of 1812. It's a legitimate question.

Am i mistaken in thinking the British won in 1812

 

[KLJT]

However, the sudden loss of a giant portion (Well over four times the size of their current country) of a country's land seems to be quite a major piece of history that needs be covered.

False. When America broke away it was basically just half the east coast. I'm not good at geography, so I'm not sure if the thirteen colonies WERE bigger than the UK, but I know they weren't 4 times it's size. We didn't get the mid west until we bought it from France and didn't get the west coast until we had a hissy fit with Mexico over it. All of which took place waaaaay the fuck after the revolution.

Britain is tiny, like really tiny you can never be more then 72 miles from the sea; the colonies are likely closer to 10x bigger

 

[sosolidshoe]

Typical American arrogance to assume it's taught at all.

Well, considering it was one of the first, if not the first, revolution that led to the end of European imperialism in the Western Hemisphere and independence in at least most of its countries, as well as kickstarting the French Revolution, I wouldn't chalk it up to arrogance to wonder how or if it's taught in the countries directly involved.

That's...very nearly as ignorant of history as the quote. America was not the cause of the French Revolution, indeed the movement for American independence was largely inspired by French and Scottish intellectuals who corresponded with, had meal/debates with, or in fact were, your founding fathers. Indeed, were it not for the French navy, the American Revolution would have been crushed by British reinforcements.

Simply because one event occurs chronologically before another does not mean the former caused the latter.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I've wondered this before. I also wonder how World War 2 and the Holocaust are covered in Germany.

Used to be not at all, until student campaigned in the 90's to have it taught to them, they deserved to know.
Now if only England could own up to its mistakes... It'd be nice to have work houses taught to us in a more comprehensive manner... rather than...

They are at A-Level history, and in A LOT of detail, as well as other aspects of poor relief during that period.

The War of Independence isn't a compulsory topic over here, but my class did touch on it when we were learning about American History in Year 9, but we didn't go into much detail because the course was mostly about the Civil Rights Movement.

I don't think it's because we don't want to talk about it, it's just we have more than enough British and European history to go around. We have to go as far back as 1066, and even further if you go to GCSE. That's a lot of stuff to teach, there's just not room for much else.

 

[Demonicdan]

I've never been taught about it, mostly just WW1, WW2 and ancient history.

 

[GrimHeaper]

Everyone just wants their own history.

 

[Jacob Haggarty]

At some point it was mentioned, but it was like a discussion in a lesson.

We did learn about america before/during/after world war 2 though. Like the whole not allowed alcohol thing. I forget its proper name.

Seems a shame really, that whole period seems quite interesting, and i'm one of those people who cant do anything without motivation.

 

[Agayek]

That's...very nearly as ignorant of history as the quote. America was not the cause of the French Revolution, indeed the movement for American independence was largely inspired by French and Scottish intellectuals who corresponded with, had meal/debates with, or in fact were, your founding fathers. Indeed, were it not for the French navy, the American Revolution would have been crushed by British reinforcements.

Simply because one event occurs chronologically before another does not mean the former caused the latter.

While that latter statement is very true, you cannot deny that both shared some very basic principles. Most of it is because, as you said, there was a lot of communication between the groups, but if you look at the French government post-revolution, as well as several stages of the revolution, you can see a lot of influence from the successful bits of the American revolution.

Also, the French contributing to the American Revolution (and they basically won most of it, to be perfectly honest) has nothing to do with whether or not the American Revolution inspired the French Revolution. There's simply no relation there.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

It's taught in the UK as part of the American History module for the History GCSE at least it was when I was at school. It's mostly taught with American history books. As History BA I can say it's pretty evenly an unbiasedly taught although you could argue that GSCE's are optional so only a portion of students will be taught about it. It's covered at AS level aswell as I remeber but that's like the end of high school for you guys going into college.

My view on the American War of Independance is that it really humbled Britain and changed our world view allowing us to create the more beneficent commonwealth.

NB: Those of you who think that its wasn't (and did History GSCE) obviously weren't paying attention in History class. Now there's a shocker.

 

[TheFederation]

it isn't.

at least not yet, all we really know is that the 'mad king' charles had control of america, and thomas jefferson fought against him.

EDIT: this is only for my year though, i can't speak for everyone else

 

[Agayek]

At some point it was mentioned, but it was like a discussion in a lesson.

We did learn about america before/during/after world war 2 though. Like the whole not allowed alcohol thing. I forget its proper name.

Seems a shame really, that whole period seems quite interesting, and i'm one of those people who cant do anything without motivation.

Prohibition is what they called the banning of alcohol. Easily one of the dumbest things the American government has ever done, and they've done some astounding stupid things in the last 250 years.

The American Revolution is quite fascinating from a historical standpoint. A lot of things hinged upon or were directly affected by the outcome of that war. I imagine we'd be living in a vastly different world if it had gone the other way.

 

[SilentBobsThoughts]

With a lot of you guys from across the Pond I am very curious as to how the UK treats this part in your history.

Nope, never been taught about it, it's not because of embarrassment or anger, it's just never needed to be honest. We do history more recent, for example, I personally did America in the 1920's World War 1, 2, and Vietnam war. OH! And Germany in the 1920's for my GCSE's.

 

[the_tramp]

We cover the discovery of America and subsequent habitation of the entire country and the restriction of the Indians. However, we don't place much historical merit upon the War of Independence as we already have two more recent, high-profile wars that affected a greater number of people and countries so do those instead.

 

[ACman]

Typical American arrogance to assume it's taught at all.

Umm...not really. It was sort of a big deal. To actually go against a major power and win wasn't really all that common of an occurance. It also seems like it's be something of an important thing to learn about considering that a lot of people consider it to be the turning point in colonialization and whatnot. Not to mention the fact that we fought the British again not a whole hell of a lot later in the War of 1812. It's a legitimate question.

If the English hadn't been fighting the French, Spanish and Dutch its unlikely that you'd have won.

Britain's wars with its former colonies were considered a bit of a sideshow.

 

[GBlair88]

BTW the red coats were because some paragon of the British officer class thought it'd stop the men freaking out over the wounded, as you'd hardly notice the bleeding and screaming over the loudness of their jackets

That's actually a myth. The bright colouring was so men could identify friend and foe in battle. The British army most likely used red because the dye was cheaper and the colour was symbolic of England.

The war isn't touched on in the UK because we have so much history to learn. From the Roman occupation to Viking attacks. The Norman conquest right up until WWII. Alot to cover even if you only focus on local history. A large part of my high school history lessons were taken up by Germany between the start of WWI to the end of WWII then the Cold War. It may be different for others but the whole Empire era was skipped when I was in school.

If the English hadn't been fighting the French, Spanish and Dutch its unlikely that you'd have won.

Britain's wars with its former colonies were considered a bit of a sideshow.

Exactly. Either lose some colonies to rebels or lose your home countries to other superpowers/empires. Hmm I wonder what's the more pressing matter.

 

[SilentBobsThoughts]

We did learn about america before/during/after world war 2 though. Like the whole not allowed alcohol thing. I forget its proper name.

Prohibition my good sir

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

I think if our Prime Minister and President are down with having barbecues in the back of Number 10 we can all leave that behind us right?

Spoiler: Nothing is on fire so not a real British BBQ

 

[erbkaiser]

If I remember correctly, it was covered in my history classes (Netherlands) very briefly, leading into the French revolution which obviously impacted my home country much more. History class focused more on the 17th Century than on the 18th and later when I was taking it.