England and US

TL;DR -- The transition of the U.K. from the reign of Queen Elizabeth II to that of Charles III allows us an opportunity to stop and consider the long-time relationships between them and us. We can track the 400 or more years of involvement; there is a 250th coming up of the resolution of our conflict; we are family, many ways, and therefore more for being allies than not; our cultural themes match up deeply; and more. The next few years will allow lots of discussion to come to fore. Too, it will be interesting to look at all aspects of our relationships. 

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Coronation
2 June 1953

Queen Elizabeth II's passing requires some reflection on our part about the long-time relationship between the colonies (and the U.S.) and the United Kingdom. Her recently-celebrated reign was 70 years long. With the inception of the reign of Charles III, we can look further at the 400 years of history, especially in terms of our good times and bad. 

From our start with the work of the Thomas Gardner Society, Inc, we followed the adage of letting those over there worry about the details on their side of the great waters while we looked at the American side. That limiting choice helped us in the early years to keep a focus, but we always had questions come up from our readers. Origins was a common theme for query. Questions of origins are for the most part associated with motivations. 

Too, as we got toward 2015, the focus on the Magna Charta ramped up. It was in this context that we got familiar with the scope of research being supported by the internet so that a major author could mostly work out of Salt Lake City but publish details about records that were in England. Of course, there has to be local work, as well, which we will be looking into.   

As an example, it was in 2014 that we saw that Sherborn records were being digitized which led to more information about Margaret Friar's life and her marriage to Thomas Gardner. At that time, we started the WikiTree effort, mainly due to the quality of genealogists working there.     

As we know, the 250th of the Revolution is coming up which marks the violent split of our two worlds. After that, there was a slow reconciliation, post the 1812 deal, which got us back to being strong allies as one would expect within families. For instance, the Cornwall Duchy is where one finds Dartmoor Prison which held Americans. So, we can look at many events in our research. The story of the HMS Resolute is an example.   

Below are two graphs. One shows the Monarchs from the time of Alfred the Great (lower graph) to Anne. This graph has Charles II who was the son of Charles I who was beheaded. There are two Cromwell terms on the lower graph. We have barely touched upon the subject of the English Civil War which played out here, too. Part of this graph, too, covers the colonial period. 

The upper graph goes from Queen Anne to Charles III. Her son died leaving George I as the main choice for King. From that time, we can track down to the turmoil of the split in two generations. Anne is a good place to start this graph. Her conflicts bled over here and motivated a Pamphlet War. It was this conflict plus the French-Indian affair that trained the colonials in military matters sufficiently to pull off a revolution.  

Monarchs, from 1707

As we consider motivations, there are many years and events to consider. For instance, it was the time of John, a few generations past William I, who is noted for sealing the Magna Carta. His son, Henry III, reinitiated the document. Henry VIII, much later, started the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. Descendants of some of the members came to New England and founded the A&HAC of Massachusetts which is still an active group. There are many family relationships that are known, including there being U.S. ancestors of those in England. William Churchill is an example.  

Monarchs, to 1700,
from Alfred the Great

The sons of Charles III are descendants of several families who immigrated to New England. 

Canadian Psychologist, Jordan Peterson, remarks that the U.S. and the U.K. have similar government divisions, namely the legislative, executive and judicial. The U.K. has an additional one which we might call symbolic and which is fulfilled by the Royal Family's involvement via the Monarchy role. 

One wonders about the absence of potential for that type of symbolic unification here. How is that void handled? The rich, famous, athletic, intelligent, military, religious, or other of a long list? 

Remarks: Modified: 09/11/2022

09/11/2022 --