How negatively is British colonialism viewed?
Posted by palep_hoot@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 26 comments
Specifically British colonialisation of America. America has good relations with the British nowadays. So I wonder how common it is to negatively view the British for colonialisation, and how negatively the colonial era is viewed.
CommanderKrieger@reddit
Couldn’t care less. It happened centuries ago. I have no real opinion on it, other than the occasional joke being made.
Oploplou@reddit
Is that the same attitude you have for slavery?
CommanderKrieger@reddit
Considering I wasn’t alive when the USA still practiced it, I have no real opinion on it other than it was and still is a despicable thing.
Comparing opinions on British colonialism and the US civil war (and all that ties with it), in my opinion has no place in this thread.
ExtraGreasy@reddit
I did not commit acts of slavery, I am not responsible for the sins of my father.
Oploplou@reddit
I didn’t ask if responsibility was felt. Neither did OP. The question was if the commenter “could care less” about it, because “it happened centuries ago”.
I don’t expect people in the modern day to feel guilt, that shits whack, but we could still care about what has happened in our country.
NoCaterpillar2051@reddit
I find it almost quirky. Like we’re all part of a fucked up family that has kind of forgiven eachother. I’m certainly not angry about something that was settled centuries ago.
huazzy@reddit
America kicked their ass so it's not seen "negatively".
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
Only with France's help, and we haven't forgiven France since.
EulerIdentity@reddit
What’s astounding to me is that the Marquis de Lafayette, at the Battle of Yorktown, was a mere eighteen years old. That’s unimaginable today.
RiverTadpolez@reddit
Many Americans are descendents of the British colonists. Wasn't the US founded by the British "settlers"? In a way, thinking of the US vs Britain back then is like thinking about a bunch of British people against another bunch of British people.
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
But there was that war thing....
RiverTadpolez@reddit
What I am saying is that the "Americans" back then were the British people who colonised America. So OP's question is more like "How do Americans today view the Americans (British settlers) who colonised and founded the US?".
river-running@reddit
Not as badly as it is in other places, at least by a lot of white Americans descended from colonials. My ancestors fared much better than the Indians under British rule, for example.
SyntheticScrivner@reddit
Literally fucking evil.
The only good pre-modern Brit is one that's been slaughtered.
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
You should see professional help.
albertnormandy@reddit
Unhinged
Marmatus@reddit
The American Revolution ended 243 years ago. At minimum, the oldest living Americans are 3 degrees of separation from anyone who was alive then. I don’t think anyone’s harboring a grudge over it. lol
NateInEC@reddit
Do former Dutch colonies have negative views of the Netherlands?
SeriousCow1999@reddit
The Congo? Indonesia? The Dutch West Indies? Yes. Definitely yes.
palep_hoot@reddit (OP)
The Congo was a belgian colony. Indonesia views colonisation most negatively, the other colonies also view it pretty negatively but still have some connections with the Netherlands
Unsolven@reddit
It’s not as big a deal as spelling colonization with an s.
Cheap_Coffee@reddit
Pretty seriously. We ended up fighting a war with Britain over it.
NateInEC@reddit
Never
Turd_Fergusons_@reddit
The reality is that most of the colonists wanted to remain subjects of the crown. They just wanted representation in Parliament. Then there were a series of very poor calculations made by the King and his lot which precipitated the rupture. Everywhere vthe British Colonized is way better off economically, or socially, than anywhere France, Spain (conquistadors) and the Portuguese colonized (in the new world at least).
TheOtherElbieKay@reddit
It probably depends on who you are asking.
Native Americans probably did not distinguish too much between King George III’s subjects and George Washington’s electorate.
albertnormandy@reddit
Most people have no informed opinion on it because it happened centuries ago.