Considering Empire
As Brandon Watson points out, the discussion raised two different questions. The first was the moral or jurisprudential question of whether the secession by some of Great Britain's colonies in North America was reasonably justified. Acknowledging Thomas Jefferson's eloquent defense of the revolution, Brandon summons an eloquent critic of it in George Campbell, a leading figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. The second question raised in the bloggers' discussion was the counterfactual and utilitarian one of whether, given the separate histories of the British Empire and the United States, it might have been better if the rebellious states had remained a part of the empire. Within it, the American colonies might not have expanded westward so rapidly (and it is western expansion that sets the precedent for American imperialism, as Ireland had set the precedent for British imperialism), might have had a different timeline regarding the franchise and emancipation, and would probably not have experienced the massive immigration from southern and eastern Europe at the end of the 19th century.
All of those questions and considerations anticipate the issues that will be taken up in Cliopatria's next symposium. It will consider Bernard Porter's"British and American Imperialisms Compared," a precise of his most recent book, Empire and Superempire: Britain, America and the World. Cliopatricians who want to participate in the symposium should send their responses to Porter's article to manan*at*uchicago*dot*edu by Sunday evening for posting here at Cliopatria. All other history bloggers are invited to join us in the symposium. Post your responses to Porter's article at your blog and send a link to it to the same address.