It’s July the 4th and that means that it is 249 years since the United States of America declared independence from Great Britain (we were the Kingdom of Great Britain back then and not the United Kingdom that didn’t happen until 1801). The early years of the United States were shall we say politically interesting with much argument some political and some a bit more physical about what shape the new nation of the United States would take.
But the American experiment in self governance, an experiment that might have looked like it was going to fail in the latter years of the 18th century, has succeeded maybe beyond the wildest dreams of America’s Founding Fathers. The United States grew from a struggling new republic into one of the world’s superpowers. America’s scientific, industrial and cultural achievements have been many. It’s easy to forget how ubiquitous American technology is today and I’m typing this piece on a machine that would never had existed were it not for American ingenuity.
America leads the world on giving its citizens rights in areas such as freedom of speech that many of us in more oppressive nations such as the United Kingdom look upon with envy. What’s amazing is that American’s share their achievements with the world. For example: As a Briton I can write about subjects that might be considered as ‘controversial’ in the UK but I can publish my thoughts in America and therefore be at one remove protected to a minor extent by the USA’s First Amendment. The US First Amendment and its application to social networks like X has not only given voiceless Britons an opportunity to speak, but has probably helped keep some Britons who speak of controversial issues online, out of His Majesty’s Prisons.
America isn’t perfect, no nation created by man can ever by without flaw. As someone who takes an interest in US politics I can see that American politics is not in-corrupt and is often a roiling sea of discontent, but in that America is little different from many other nations. The difference between America and many other nations in that regard is that the American people can choose the path that best suits them. Americans can choose who serves them from in positions from the bottom to the top, from Sheriff or School Board members to their Head of State, none of those can Britons do.
Today is much like any other day for the majority of Britons, July 4th has no particular significance to them, it’s just another workday. But for some of us, those of us who have an interest in history and geopolitics, July the 4th is worth marking because of what came out of the Declaration of Independence and the influence that it has had not just on the United States but the world.
Happy Birthday America.