US part of the British empire? Durham report
All, I am not doing too much on "before 1900", so please do excuse me. Not too much knowledge about it.
I am reading a rather interesting book: "Empire: How britain made the modern world" by Niall Ferguson.
It goes into the Durham report from 1838/9. Ferguson claims that it could be the report which saved the empire.
Of course it looked at the Canadian affairs, but the report got into the notion of "responsible government", at length at that.
Further, in hindsight, what if the report had been written prior to the American revolutions in 1770's? It would not have been possible, of course, as the report must have looked at the American experience.
This might have been discussed to death here, but WHAT IF:
- The conslusion of the report would have been drawn prior to 1770's?
- Britain immediately implement the recommendations of the report?
- America suddenly having recognised governments?
How would it have panned out? America another Australia/NZ/SA?
Domion status?
Another Canada?
Commonwealth?
Just to quote from Ferguson:
"Responsible Government" then, was a way of reconciling the practice ofr empire with the principle of liberty. What the Durham Report meant was that the aspirations of Canadians, Australiaan, NZ's and SA's - which were to be little different from the aspirations of the Americans in the 1770's - could be and would be answered without the need for wars of independence.
"So there wold be no battle of Lexington in Auckland, No Gerorge Washington in Canberra, no declaration of independence in Ottawa. Indeed, it is not hard to feel, when one reads the Durham report, that its subtext is one of regret. If only the American colonists had been given responsible government when they had first asked in 1770's - if only the British had lived up to their own rhetoric of liberty - there might never have been a War of Independence. Indeed, there might never have been a United States. And millions of British emigrants might have chosen California instead of Canada ehen they packed their bags to go"
Comments?
All, I am not doing too much on "before 1900", so please do excuse me. Not too much knowledge about it.
I am reading a rather interesting book: "Empire: How britain made the modern world" by Niall Ferguson.
It goes into the Durham report from 1838/9. Ferguson claims that it could be the report which saved the empire.
Of course it looked at the Canadian affairs, but the report got into the notion of "responsible government", at length at that.
Further, in hindsight, what if the report had been written prior to the American revolutions in 1770's? It would not have been possible, of course, as the report must have looked at the American experience.
This might have been discussed to death here, but WHAT IF:
- The conslusion of the report would have been drawn prior to 1770's?
- Britain immediately implement the recommendations of the report?
- America suddenly having recognised governments?
How would it have panned out? America another Australia/NZ/SA?
Domion status?
Another Canada?
Commonwealth?
Just to quote from Ferguson:
"Responsible Government" then, was a way of reconciling the practice ofr empire with the principle of liberty. What the Durham Report meant was that the aspirations of Canadians, Australiaan, NZ's and SA's - which were to be little different from the aspirations of the Americans in the 1770's - could be and would be answered without the need for wars of independence.
"So there wold be no battle of Lexington in Auckland, No Gerorge Washington in Canberra, no declaration of independence in Ottawa. Indeed, it is not hard to feel, when one reads the Durham report, that its subtext is one of regret. If only the American colonists had been given responsible government when they had first asked in 1770's - if only the British had lived up to their own rhetoric of liberty - there might never have been a War of Independence. Indeed, there might never have been a United States. And millions of British emigrants might have chosen California instead of Canada ehen they packed their bags to go"
Comments?