The more I think about things, and how well stuff works in other countries, i believe it’s due to the sheer size and demographic makeup of the country. I often times wonder if it would be better managed with more of an EU style system where certain standards are core across all states and then leave each country to truly govern themselves.
I’m fairly certain this was the original goal when the country was founded and the idea of states rights, but at some it feels like things got flipped on their heads.
(Note, this is probably more of a rant and I know there are definitely things that would not work as well in that situation, but part of me wonders if it’d be a better solution than what we’re stuck with right now)
This “unpopular opinion” is literally just “I wish the Brits won”
The Brits did win. America fell back into the British sphere of influence following the French Revolution and the US’s humiliating defeat in the War of 1812. America continued to fulfill the role British Aristocrats intended for it, as a subservant trading partner and expansionary military outpost, minus the real cost of empire falling on the backs of British aristocrats. While Americans colonized the rest of the continent, the British Empire continued to expand globally for the next century, hitting its apotheosis in the Crimean War, and then going into retreat following WW1 and WW2.
But even then, British financial interests embedded in the American post-war system continued to enrich themselves enormously straight through Thatcher and Blair. It wasn’t until the '08 Financial Crisis that England truly decoupled from the American economy and plunged into irrelevancy.
A British “victory” against American rebels wouldn’t have deterred subsequent uprisings, just delayed them for another few years. The bleed on the UK treasury would have continued until America was formally integrated into the British Commonwealth or they were officially cut loose. The American faux-democracy of the 19th century was in the best interests of all parties in the long run.
Interesting. I’ve never heard that the Americans lost the war of 1812, but apparently that’s how it’s taught in Canada.
I wouldn’t say that the Brits won, buy they were able to negotiate a managed peace with the USA which benefited both parties.
The Monroe Doctrine was a British idea which got the USA to act as a power to preserve the post revolution status quo, allow for British trade access, and let the UK keep its remaining colonies.
You also had a peaceful resolution of the border between Canada and the USA, something which the UK wouldn’t have pushed for if it was trying to be militarily dominant over the USA in the Americas.
The last time that the USA and UK could possibly be considered unaligned was the American Civil War. With that, the UK made sure not to recognize the CSA nor did it participate in recolonization efforts in the Americas like the French in Mexico.