America's British Culture (Library of Conservative Thought)

As Russell Kirk notes, less than 20 percent of Americans have British blood, but if you took away all the elements of British culture from America, it wouldn't be America. In AMERICA'S BRITISH CULTURE, Kirk provides a quick run through of the various influences of British culture on the America. Whether it's the common law, representative government or the immense heritage of English literature, one need only reflect for a moment on how important British culture has been on American life. This book covers familiar ground and those who have read THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN ORDER probably won't learn all that much. At the same time it is filled with interesting facts and provocative theories. For example, Kirk argues that that America's political institution owes little to the ancient world. It was from their English background that they learned representative government. Once independence was gained, the states carried over their institutions. Connecticut and Rhode Island transformed their Royal charters into constitutions, simply striking out references to the king. This is a familiar theme in Kirk: the American Revolution was essentially conservative.

A short, though not cursory, examination of the British culture that America has inherited and improved on gives the lie to those who claim the US is merely the polyglot combination of a thousand equal influences (if you were taught that the Iroquois gave us democracy, you know what I mean.). Kirk examines four ways in which America carries the torch of British civilization: the English language, the common-law tradition (which could have been better explained), representative government, and the general mores. Good quick read for the Anglosphere fan, but should not be your exclusive resource.