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

[maturin]

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

We teach the Magna Carta, John Locke, the Bill of Rights.

America is the most important country in the world. It would be remiss not to touch on its founding, especially when that event had ramifications that utterly remade Europe and South America.

Watch that black kettle there.

 

[RedFox742]

I'd always wondered this exact thing, and the answer seems to be "it just isn't taught."

I'd say that seems absurd given that every American schoolchild learns the same story again and again every single year from about 3rd through 8th grade, but then again, I didn't know who Horatio Nelson was until I went to London last summer and asked, "who's the dude on the top of the giant friggin' obelisk?"

 

[LostAlone]

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

not sure if troll or just bigoted...

How is being curious about how others were taught about a part of history where a world power ie England, had part of its sphere of influence and territory break away ie the colonies, being arrogant?

OT: I have actually been curious of how most history is taught from other view points. Like how is the Cold War taught in Russia, how is the Pacific theater of war in WWII taught in Japan. All these things would be interesting to know.

You gotta remember that bits of our empire were always breaking off and coming back and the American colonies were pretty much the least of our worries at the time. There have been LOTS of revolutions in our history and even more other wars. While history has made America quite important, of all of the many things happening at the same time, the revolution just didn't matter much. Particularly when you look at it in philosophical terms, the French revolution was a huge deal, and enlightenment values similarly so. America didn't contribute much to anything that interested Europe until almost the first world war.

 

[silverdragon9]

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

I always figured it was handled the same way the US Internment of Japanese citizens is handled in the US... you know barely touch upon it and have the surrounding curriculum be about how great and noble your country was and then hope nobody noticed by not even including a question about it on the test...

i don't know about you but i covered that and the trail of tears pretty thoroughly in my social studies class.

 

[LinwoodElrich]

I always figured it was handled the same way the US Internment of Japanese citizens is handled in the US... you know barely touch upon it and have the surrounding curriculum be about how great and noble your country was and then hope nobody noticed by not even including a question about it on the test...

I should have referred to that event instead of vietnam xD Apparently education on Vietnam has gotten better so that's good that more people are taught about how we screwed up too. Your example is far better however where American education likes to shuffle it under the desk.

We teach the Magna Carta, John Locke, the Bill of Rights.

America is a more important country than Britain. It's the most important country in the world. It would be remiss not to touch on its founding, especially when that event had ramifications that utterly remade Europe and South America.

Watch that black kettle there.

And that is why people call Americans arrogant. I believe we have a great country, but are we the only ones? Plain and simple, no.

 

[Sacman]

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

I always figured it was handled the same way the US Internment of Japanese citizens is handled in the US... you know barely touch upon it and have the surrounding curriculum be about how great and noble your country was and then hope nobody noticed by not even including a question about it on the test...

i don't know about you but i covered that and the trail of tears pretty thoroughly in my social studies class.

Shit anything relating to Native Americans was left out that didn't have to do with Thanksgiving in my history classes...

 

[LostAlone]

I'd always wondered this exact thing, and the answer seems to be "it just isn't taught."

I'd say that seems absurd given that every American schoolchild learns the same story again and again every single year from about 3rd through 8th grade, but then again, I didn't know who Horatio Nelson was until I went to London last summer and asked, "who's the dude on the top of the giant friggin' obelisk?"

Thats because you don't get taught anything about the MUCH more important (at least in terms of the era) Napoleonic Wars. The Napoleonic wars were the WW2 of its time, and while the allies (us, russia, sometimes prussia, sometimes holland, portugal) had rather shittier motives (retaining monarchy and generally stomping on poor people) than the WW2 allies, the world would be VASTLY different had Napoleon extended his empire across continental Europe.

America was on Frances side btw. Bet you don't get taught that either.

 

[Spade Lead]

I can't speak for Europe but I watched a British historian talk about the Revolution as a civil war between the British and it's colonists.

Wow. I never thought of it that way...

 

[MoodyMagic]

Hey, I'm from Australia (another English colony), and over here we don't learn about the War of Independance. We do however quickly skim over the civil war and go into huge detail about civil rights movement,

 

[spectrenihlus]

Yeah the war of independence really isn't a big deal in the UK and we simply don't study it at all.

You have to see it through our eyes.

At the time of the revolution we were busy owning practically everything in the world that was worth owning. We were fighting practically everywhere constantly from about 1700 through to 1900 and while we lost a few we won most.

So while the revolution was clearly a big deal for America since you're history is kinda pathetically short and you've flourished so much since, as far as our culture is concerned, it was a tiny unimportant conflict in an unimportant colony for us.

When we study that period of histroy (late 1700's onwards) we look at the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars and not much else.

Oh and I second that we study Vietnam (and Korea come to that) in terms of 'What the hell were they thinking', which tbh is the only accurate way.

I thought it would be a bigger deal as the united states was the only ex colony to gain it's independance from Britain by winning a war against the superpower. But I assumed correctly that it isn't that big of a deal. I guess it doesn't help that your countrie's history harkens back to pre Roman times. Kind of a lot to compress into one year.

 

[silverdragon9]

America was on Frances side btw. Bet you don't get taught that either.

it was like a game of revolution tag.

 

[Ryengu]

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

Formation of a global superpower sounds like a significant event in history regardless of where you live

 

[gbemery]

You gotta remember that bits of our empire were always breaking off and coming back and the American colonies were pretty much the least of our worries at the time. There have been LOTS of revolutions in our history and even more other wars. While history has made America quite important, of all of the many things happening at the same time, the revolution just didn't matter much. Particularly when you look at it in philosophical terms, the French revolution was a huge deal, and enlightenment values similarly so. America didn't contribute much to anything that interested Europe until almost the first world war.

You see those are excellent points, and is at the heart of the matter of what the OT is about. I believe OP was trying to find out if it was taught on the terms of a full chapter in a history book, maybe a few pages or just a paragraph. Was it covered as a full war or was it just covered as "England colonized new lands and they eventually broke away." But it is still at the minimalist a footnote worthy point in history because it is the beginning lines that help to lead to the outcomes in the world wars. Even if you look at it from a philosophical point of view where the main reason for people going to the colonies was for religious opportunities.

 

[cryogeist]

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

i don't even think they are allowed to be mentioned at all

 

[open trap]

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

My german teacher talks about that alot. Basically she said that from a young age children are taught that what happened was a part of their history and that its their obligation to make sure it never happened again. They are taught about all the horrible and also good things the Nazi government did.

 

[Mordereth]

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

... being one of the most defining events of the Common Wealth in the past 250 years, it is of course arrogance to suggest that it could be used as a case study as how to better the future of Britain and restore it to its status as an economic power-house.

Burning shit and throwing food at the royal family can clearly do all of that, eh whott?

 

[LostAlone]

Even if you look at it from a philosophical point of view where the main reason for people going to the colonies was for religious opportunities.

Again, thats what gets taught because y'all live there.

What we get taught is that some religious minorities who were too mental to be happy anywhere in what had become by then a reasonably tolerant Europe got tossed in a boat and told to GTFO. Its all perspective...

 

[RedFox742]

America was on Frances side btw. Bet you don't get taught that either.

Actually, the role of the French in our own revolution is emphasized quite heavily, at least in the liberal state (Massachusetts) where I grew up (it may be different in Kansas.)

But I don't recall the U.S. having much to do with the Napoleonic Wars save for distracting the Brits for a little bit between 1812 and 1814.