How much does the average British school student know about the American Revolution?

[Crow T R0bot]

Ever since playing Assassin's Creed III, and pondering what sort of kerfuffle would happen if The Doctor were to meet George Washington on Doctor Who, my curiosity has gotten the better of me.

For those of you posters who are British, how much did you know about the American Revolution as you grew up? It came up once a year in my very American grade school, but by the time I got to Middle School I learned details that were increasingly objective.

I was in 8th Grade when I discovered only 40% of the colonial population was pro-secession, with another 40% Loyalist and another 20% neutral, and it was around then, in a Dilbert strip, that I learned our Founding Fathers (tm) were slave owners.

Anyone in posting from Britain learn differently growing up?

 

[angrysoba]

When I was at school it wasn't taught at all, and I studied GCSE and A-levels in history and US politics.

In fact, it wasn't taught in the history electives I took at university either. Having said that, I have read books on the events in question.

 

[Matthew Ellard]

I'm an Australian. In the late 70's modern history for high school, (16 to 18 year olds) included the French revolution and American civil war as standard. We were not taught about the American revolution, which is a pity because I picked a whole range of fake ideas & facts from television and movies.

Once I started reading history under my own steam I realised how complex and interesting the American revolution was. It was the PC game Total War: Empire that continued my interest in at a later date.

We never were taught anything about the English civil war because, I guess, we were an English colony and it's OK for the motherland to "knock off" a king but not us dumb American, Canadian and Australian colonials.

 

[Damien Evans]

I'm an Australian. In the late 70's modern history for high school, (16 to 18 year olds) included the French revolution and American civil war as standard. We were not taught about the American revolution, which is a pity because I picked a whole range of fake ideas & facts from television and movies.

Once I started reading history under my own steam I realised how complex and interesting the American revolution was. It was the PC game Total War: Empire that continued my interest in at a later date.

We never were taught anything about the English civil war because, I guess, we were an English colony and it's OK for the motherland to "knock off" a king but not us dumb American, Canadian and Australian colonials.

Also an Australian: In the 2000's, one of the History units on offer at VCE level (last year of High School) was (and probably still is) History: Revolutions. There were 4 units to the course, French, Russian, Chinese and American revolutions, but each individual school could only do 2 of these units, because they went for a semester each. My school did French and Russian.

 

[The Don]

I didn't take history classes after the third form (age 13-14) because I didn't take History 'O' level (yes I am that old). The Revolutionary War was glossed over in a gallop through our glorious imperial past:

1757 - Plassy
1759 - Quebec
1776 - mumble mumble mumble
1794 - The Glorious First
1805 - Trafalgar

We were told that the Revolutionary War was a war of Beastly Ungratefulness with a few troublemakers spoiling it for everyone else.

The War of 1812 wasn't even mentioned.

 

[Aepervius]

Back in the day we went over the American revolution in France (when i was in high school in 1995?) but not in much detail. We went in much greater detail on WW1, WW2, Cold war, and US-Soviet relationship.

 

[Border Reiver]

As a Canadian, we do get a few lessons on the American Revolution, generally as it affected Canada, so we got a different perspective on the Quebec Act than our compatriots to the south get, the economic effects of troop deployments in the loyal colonies, oddly Arnold's attack on Quebec gets next to no mention, and of course we get a fair bit on the immigration to the Canadas and Nova Scotia after the war.

Then we get the War of 1812, and a lesson on the ACW as a lead up to Confederation.

 

[Agatha]

I did take History O-level at age 16 (because like The Don, I am getting on a bit) and we did not study the American Revolution in any particular detail. Our history syllabus was made up of discrete events rather than a chronological progression through the years, so 'the Tudors' was followed by 'the Industrial Revolution' which was followed by 'the Norman Conquest' and so on. Good for bringing bits of history to life but a poor way to promote an understanding of how the world got to here.

One of my sons did both history and politics at A2 level (age 18) and did the American Revolution as part of one of those - I just can't recall which subject now.

The current GCSE (age 16) syllabus for England doesn't include the American Revolution: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/

The AQA exam board syllabus for AS (17) and A2 (18) does include the loss of the American colonies in the unit HIS2F: http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/history/as-and-a-level/history-2040/spec-at-a-glance/summary-of-units It is, I believe, up to the school to choose which units the pupils will study.

The EdExcel exam board syllabus is harder to understand at a cursory glance but it seems that Unit 1 option C2 covers the American Revolution as does Unit 3 option C1.

Big pdf: http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/GCE New GCE/UA035239_GCE_Lin_History_Issue_5.pdf

How the subjects are covered - in a biased or a neutral way, for example - is probably best judged by someone who has actually taken the courses. The BBC bitesize pages will give a flavour for the GCSE level, but to assess the AS and A2 level it would probably be better to buy a study guide. Or create an account on TSR.

 

[Ts4EVER]

I just checked the curriculum for Hesse, Germany, for Realschule standards (meaning 10 grades of school). It does not show up at all. For ninth grade they want:

9.1 French Revolution
9.2 German Revolution
9.3 Industrial Revolution
9.4 World War 1

Edit: I was wrong, the topic appears as a subtopic under "absolutism" in 8.4.

 

[Jack by the hedge]

I wasn't taught anything about the American revolution at school. Picked up some bits and pieces of history along the way but still couldn't string it together into a coherent narrative.

As for the War of 1812, the first time I heard the phrase (and it was embarrassingly few years ago) I thought it was a reference to Napoleon invading Russia.

 

[mikado]

I'm an Australian also, and was in high school early eighties. I am a history buff and I never learnt anything about American history, I am learning a little now, but am aware if how little I know....

 

[Mikemcc]

Hardly touched on, but then there are huge portions of the UK civil and military history that are skipped. So I don't think it's a losers gripe that underlies this. some of the other things that are missed out, or only mentioned in passing

The failure of the Darian colony leading directly to the Act of Union.
The Peninsular War.
The Thirty Years War.
The activities in the Carribean - Privateering, slave ownership and the activities of the British colonial companies.
The War of the Roses.
The Anarchy - the civil war between Steven and Matilda (it was the series Cadfael that brought that to my attention).

Mind you there are still misrepresentations about some aspects of the American Revolution that aren't properly taught in the US! I was surprised when I visited Boston to still here the guides explaining that Paul Revere would never have said that 'The British are coming!' because, at the time, he was British... The phrase was 'The Regulars are coming!'

 

[zooterkin]

I wasn't taught anything about the American revolution at school. Picked up some bits and pieces of history along the way but still couldn't string it together into a coherent narrative.

Same here, as far as I can remember. What I've picked up was mostly through reading fiction.

As for the War of 1812, the first time I heard the phrase (and it was embarrassingly few years ago) I thought it was a reference to Napoleon invading Russia.

It's quite possible that the first time I heard of the war of 1812 was on this forum.

 

[Lord Running Clam]

I'm in the US and I learned more about the American Revolution from Schoolhouse Rock than I did in high school. I studied Archeology so I devoured history books on my own time but still mostly fail concerning the Revolutionary War. I live near Gettysburg so Civil War was always a highlight in our schools.

The OP is an interesting question that I never considered so I'll keep following this thread.

 

[aggle-rithm]

I remember learning in high school about the British perspective on the Revolutionary War. They saw it less of a war of independence and more of a civil war fraught with misunderstandings and fueled by imaginary injustices.

Later I saw a British-made documentary about the war that said it was mostly about the right to bear arms. Interesting perspective.

 

[Craig B]

Hardly touched on, but then there are huge portions of the UK civil and military history that are skipped. So I don't think it's a losers gripe that underlies this. some of the other things that are missed out, or only mentioned in passing

The failure of the Darian colony leading directly to the Act of Union. <etc>

That's a very good point indeed. Not only do British school students not know much about the Darien Scheme, they don't know about the Treaty of Union either. (Calling it a mere Act doesn't go down well in certain quarters up here, because it looks as if England merely annexed Scotland by an Act of its own parliament. That may be so, but it's not how things are supposed to be.)

Most US citizens know when their country was founded. It has a birthday, so to speak; so does modern France and French people know it. But who in Britain knows on what day Britain came into being, or the United Kingdom, and how or why? Not very many I believe. This country has no "creation myth". Is that not odd?

I remember an educated British person many years ago writing a query in the Guardian's Notes and Queries page, something like: I think I've read that Scotland once tried to set up a colony in South America or somewhere. Does anyone know about this?

Now imagine an American writing to the New York Times: I think I've read somewhere that some guys once dressed up like Africans and threw a shipload of coffee into the sea. Or something. Or a French writer to Le Monde: I think I've heard somewhere that there was a big riot and a fortress got sacked by a mob. It was called the Bastide and it was in Lyon I believe.

But of course this is fantasy.

 

[Tolls]

Most US citizens know when their country was founded. It has a birthday, so to speak; so does modern France and French people know it. But who in Britain knows on what day Britain came into being, or the United Kingdom, and how or why? Not very many I believe. This country has no "creation myth". Is that not odd?

The individual parts do, but yes, the union does come across as a slightly reluctant marriage. "We don't like to talk about it".

Did anyone bother doing anything for the tricentennial?

 

[SpitfireIX]

I don't remember a lot about what I learned in primary and secondary school of the American Revolution, because I learned much more on my own. I turned 11 in 1976, and there was tremendous interest in the American Bicentennial that year, with many special television programs on the subject; also I read a lot of my father's history books and magazines. As time went on I learned more from various sources (some more reliable than others).

In college (the first time) I majored in (mostly useless) American history; I don't recall learning much that was new in US History to 1877; we did study Washington's Trenton-Princeton campaign (as in Washington Crossing the Delaware) in some depth in History of American Military Affairs, though.

Funny story: Once I was over at a friend's apartment, and his (now ex-) wife returned from taking a history exam. As soon as she walked in the door, without any greeting or pleasantries, she pointed at the group of us who were playing a war game, and blurted out, "What year was the Battle of Saratoga??"

"1777," I replied.

"Who was the British general who surrendered??"

"'Gentleman Johnny' Burgoyne."

"What was the British plan??"

"To cut the colonies in two by capturing New York in a three-pronged movement."

"What fort did Benedict Arnold try to surrender to the British??"

"West Point."

"Why didn't you take my test for me??"

 

[catsmate]

We covered it in (IIRC) 3rd year for Inter Cert; not much depth, I think it was 1 week (say four 40 minute classes).
More depth for Leaving Cert.

 

[Mark the Hiker]

This country has no "creation myth". Is that not odd?

I think it has to do with a watery tart and some kind of farcical aquatic ceremony. I saw that on a documentary once.