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the US also didn't have any history (as US) before 1942 or so That is incorrect. US history begins in 1776, with the Declaration of Independence. And before it

by wyclif 9y ago

the US also didn't have any history (as US) before 1942 or so That is incorrect. US history begins in 1776, with the Declaration of Independence. And before it was a federation of States, people had been there homesteading when the territory was an English colony. the US had slaves long after European countries had abolished that practice That is also incorrect. Slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833 due to the efforts of Wilberforce, et al. The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified in 1865. That's a little over 30 years, hardly a "long time" even for a country less than a century old. That's not even one full generation. I dunno man, I think I'll take US "uptightness" any day over the English version of "uptight." And I say that as someone whose grandparents were British subjects!

coldtea 9y ago
>That is incorrect. Not even technically (although I did mean 1492). The fact that US history begins in 1776 doesn't make the fact that US doesn't have a history before 1492 untrue. If anything, it makes it even stronger: it not only didn't have a history, it didn't even exist for another 3 centuries or so. In any case, I was referring to the whole history of the now-US settlements, no just the history of the US as a state. >That is also incorrect. Slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833 due to the efforts of Wilberforce, et al. The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified in 1865. That's a little over 30 years, hardly a "long time" even for a country less than a century old. I spoke of "other European countries". You only mentioned one, the British Empire, and even itself abolished slavery 30 years before the US. Others did it much earlier. So much for being some shining beacon of freedom. Besides, even 1833 is the date for the British Empire at large. In the UK slavery was abolished much earlier still.

by wyclif 9y ago

coldtea 9y ago

>That is incorrect. Not even technically (although I did mean 1492). The fact that US history begins in 1776 doesn't make the fact that US doesn't have a history before 1492 untrue. If anything, it makes it even stronger: it not only didn't have a history, it didn't even exist for another 3 centuries or so. In any case, I was referring to the whole history of the now-US settlements, no just the history of the US as a state. >That is also incorrect. Slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833 due to the efforts of Wilberforce, et al. The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified in 1865. That's a little over 30 years, hardly a "long time" even for a country less than a century old. I spoke of "other European countries". You only mentioned one, the British Empire, and even itself abolished slavery 30 years before the US. Others did it much earlier. So much for being some shining beacon of freedom. Besides, even 1833 is the date for the British Empire at large. In the UK slavery was abolished much earlier still.