The United States and England have had an interesting relationship to one another for the entirety of America’s existence. The term special relationship was coined by Winston Churchill in 1944 and he was convinced that “close friendship between Britain and the United States was the cornerstone of world peace and prosperity” (Bromund). The Special Relationship has been complicated and violent, but it has also been simple and beneficial. The saying “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” especially applies to the relationship between the US and England in that from the beginning of United States history it seemed as if America was always fighting with England. And the United States and England have one of the strongest relationships because of how similar they are to one another. Also because of how long the Special Relationship has been around, there is a lot of history between them both. There has been bad blood but also great friendship and jubilation throughout their relationship. As both of these countries have continued to change individually the United States and Britain have grown to become more similar to one another than different.
The British colonized the Americas in the 1600’s when it was still the British Empire.
Eventually the British would begin to send over taxed goods and because of this the Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence and started the revolutionary war. Eventually the U.S. would win and the United States would become a country at the end of this war in 1783. The treaty of Paris marked the decline of the British Empire, while simultaneously kickstarting rise of the United States of America as a new country and soon to be great political power. The relationship between the The British Empire and America’s relationship was obviously off to a rocky start and was definitely not the best relationship in the beginning stages of the newly formed United States of America. According to the U.S. embassy both sides began diplomatic relations in 1785 only two years after the revolutionary was over, but these relations were soon broken when The United States declared war on England at the beginning of the war of 1812 only 27 years later. According to The Library of Congress the last major dispute between the U.S. and Britain was in 1895 and it did not end in bloodshed on either side. Since then, England and America have been allies and maybe even friends. They have come a long way from fighting amongst themselves because now they are fighting alongside each other. Both countries fought alongside each other as allies during World War I, World War II, and the Korean Conflict as well as in Afghanistan. The US and England are very similar socially, economically, and culturally. Both countries also have similar goals as on another and this helps to strengthen the bond between the two of us even further.
Over all the US and England have had a fairly amicable and companionable relationship and alliance between each other. Because they are both predominantly English speaking countries, it makes diplomatic relationships and communication easier between the two of them especially with new developments in technology. England is very similar to the U.S. culturally in that they are a predominantly middle class, christian society and both of us use the internet at similar rates. Both countries are very similar economically in that they are both first world countries and have strong trade agreements with many different countries. Both the US and England have permanent seats on the UN Security Council and are both founding members of NATO (North Atlantic Trade Organization). Our trade relations are extremely good, according to the United States Embassy the UK is home to one of the largest markets for U.S. exports and is also one of the largest suppliers of U.S. imports. Our governments have a good relationship with one another and are on diplomatic terms. Both countries have embassies located in the other and they continue to try to work together. They are apart of the UK-USA security agreement where they as well as three other countries are involved in intelligence collection and sharing. The US and England have one of the longest and strongest relationships with one another, but like in all relationships they have their differences.
The United States and Britain are much more similar than different, but there are some slight differences and past grudges that may cause some rifts in the future. England has a constitutional monarchy where the king or queen does not make any open political decisions and they are kept in check by parliament and the Prime Minister, this is different from the government system America has put in place which is a democratic republic. Recently the president made a visit to England and was not greeted with open or welcoming arms, he was actually greeted with quite the opposite reactions from the citizens of Great Britain for that matter. And because of how hostile the citizens were towards the president it may cause him to retaliate negatively because of how volatile and unpredictable he can be. This may cause stress on the special relationship and could create an unfavorable outcome if we are not careful. Another possible stressor on the relationship was after World War II “Disagreements about what form of democracy should be established and how that titanic task should be accomplished brought out differences between the U.S. and the U.K.” and this could have caused a small conflict that would have been resolved but possibly with a bit of work. These kinds of relationships are built on trust and compromise. Hopefully both countries continue to have a strong bond and relationship between them, as it is essential for both of us to continue to be seen as great powers in the world.
Both countries can do many things to strengthen the relationship between the two of them. To improve upon their already great relationship with the American government the English government can do a few things. The British people and government should both try to be patient with our elected leader because, while he may not have a filter, Donald Trump is in charge of the United States Military and has access to the missile codes. On the other hane our president can be more tactful with his words and actions and should not attack and blame others for his own shortcomings. The British should also keep in mind that while our president is elected not every one that is an American citizen voted for or continues to support him or his actions and behavior. On the other hand American citizens of voting age need to vote for the elected official they want in office and they should not rely of others to make the decision for them. To keep our strong relationship both countries should do their best to keep trade relations the same or better yet increase in products and profits for both parties. Britain has created America for what it started as but Americans make America, America what it is today. The United States and Britain have been at odds or allied with each other as long as they have both been around and thankfully we are all on the same page and are allied with each other right now. Hopefully we continue to be allied with one another for a long time to come. Because we are each other’s greatest allies and arguably each other’s most important relationship, the survival of our own separate countries is dependent upon the fact that we are allied with each other and not positioned against each other.