The Monarchist 1.0
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[+] HONOURING OUR PATRON, SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL, VICTOR OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES

[+] HONOURING OUR QUEEN, ELIZABETH THE SECOND, ON THE 80TH YEAR OF HER BIRTH (1926 - 2006)

[+] HONOURING OUR KING, SAINT EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, ON THE 1000TH YEAR OF HIS BIRTH (1005 - 2005)

[+] HONOURING OUR HERO, LORD NELSON, ON THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE BATTLE OF TRAFALGAR (1805 - 2005)

[+] HONOURING OUR SONS, THE QUEEN'S COMMONWEALTH SOLDIERS KILLED IN THE 'WAR ON TERROR'

[+] HONOURING OUR VETS ON THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VICTORIA CROSS (1856 - 2006)

Friday, December 02, 2005
America is not officially styled a Republic

This very worthy comment comes courtesy of James C. Bennett, founder of the Anglosphere Institute, author of The Anglosphere Challenge and blogger at Albion’s Seedlings.

America was not as anti-monarchist at the time of the end of the Monarchist Period of its history as is generally thought today. There was a bloc of hard-core Commonwealth-men in New England itching for revenge in 1660, but in the middle states and the South the temperament was moderate-Whiggish and fully accepted the settlement of 1688. In fact, the general consensus of moderate Whigs was that republicanism had been tried during the Commonwealth period and found wanting, and many people were mildly nervous about a republican experiment.

The problem was more of a lack of suitable candidates for an American throne than a diehard republicanist ideology. Had Washington had direct heirs, he might indeed have been made King, but the Founders were wary of a succession crisis. Given the lack of suitable candidates, and the diehard opposition of the New Englanders, a non-monarchist Union was the least objectionable solution.

Incidentally, one trace of the mindset of that era is reflected in the wording of the Constitution. The USA is nowhere officially titled a Republic. It is, technically speaking, a Federal Union of republican states. This is our counterpart to the fact that there was never any such thing, officially, as the British Empire. The adjective Imperial properly only applies to the Empire of India, whose Emperor also happened to be the King of the United Kingdom. Most people on this blog probably know the latter fact, but few think about the former.

Forward the Anglosphere!

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