“Unveiling the Forgotten Lessons: How British Schools Shape the Narrative of Empire”
As for the British side, then British Prime Minister Lord William Petty, Earl of Shelburne felt that in granting the United States such favorable terms, they also positioned the U.S. to prosper to a great degree, while simultaneously helping to open up very favorable trade with them which would benefit British merchants, as well as help supply the British Empire with much needed resources. This would also all hopefully foster a decent amount of goodwill towards Britain from the new nation, and potentially help ensure that the relationship between France and the U.S. didnât continue to mature unchecked at the expense of Britain. And in retrospect, while the now dubbed âspecial relationshipâ between the British and Americans wasnât always smooth in the aftermath, on the whole, such friendly relations with their former colonies has served the U.K. extremely well, and been a boon to the United States as well. So much so that the U.S. Department of Statesâ webpage on the relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. starts off,
âThe United States has no closer Ally than the United Kingdom. Following the end of the American Revolution in 1783⦠in 1785 our two countries established diplomatic relations. Other than a brief break in relations during the War of 1812, the United States and the United Kingdom have remained durable partners and Allies. Our partnership is a foundation of our mutual prosperity and security.â
Not just teaming up in matters of war and security, the two nations are among each other’s biggest trade partners. They also share the world’s largest foreign investment partnership. And, as UK Foreign Secretary William Hague noted in 2013, “every day almost one million people go to work in America for British companies that are in the United States, just as more than one million people go to work here in Great Britain for American companies that are here.”
