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After working for a European company for 26 years and traveling to over 40 countries, I'm sure the American Revolution is pretty well known outside the US. In fact, I've often found people from outside the US know more about our country than many natives do.
People outside of America know America used to be a British colony and they know America rebelled against Britain. That does not mean they know about Paul Revere, the Battle of Yorktown, Lexington and Concord, etc. If you grew up under British rule, which was about a fifth of the world's population at one time, and you have to learn about the Normans, Cromwell, the Reformation, the Wars of the Roses, etc., where does one fit Paul Revere and Crispus Attucks in?
This may give you some idea of what people in different countries know about Philadelphia's role in the Revolution.
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But how is the American Revolution taught in the UK and in other countries around the world? Quartz crowdsourced answers from people on Reddit and Quora to get a sense of how this seminal event in the American historical ethos is taught to everyone else.
Here are some of the common threads we noticed:
It’s part of the Enlightenment, focusing on the philosophical and political ideas in play, rather than the military action.
It’s taught as a footnote to the French Revolution and the wave of similar revolutions around the world (even though the American Revolution was, demonstrably, a catalyst for this wave).
In the UK and some other countries, it’s called the American War of Independence.
It’s not taught at all.
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There is a very simple reason why the American revolution is not really taught in the UK (or anywhere outside of the USA): it isn’t really that important. As far as the British Empire went, it grew dramatically in the century after the revolution and developed a more global reach. As far as European history goes, the French revolution is far more important as it had far more tangible effects for Europeans. In fact, the American revolution could be looked in the context of British/French colonial rivalries.
People outside of America know America used to be a British colony and they know America rebelled against Britain. That does not mean they know about Paul Revere, the Battle of Yorktown, Lexington and Concord, etc. If you grew up under British rule, which was about a fifth of the world's population at one time, and you have to learn about the Normans, Cromwell, the Reformation, the Wars of the Roses, etc., where does one fit Paul Revere and Crispus Attucks in?
This may give you some idea of what people in different countries know about Philadelphia's role in the Revolution.
I don't know why they learn it, but as the generic joke goes everybody from Europe knows more about American history than Americans. There's always truth behind the joke
I don't know why they learn it, but as the generic joke goes everybody from Europe knows more about American history than Americans. There's always truth behind the joke
That's obviously not true if they don't learn American history at all. Most Americans have heard of George Washington. I don't know if we can say the same about the rest of the world.
That's obviously not true if they don't learn American history at all. Most Americans have heard of George Washington. I don't know if we can say the same about the rest of the world.
I don't know but I would honestly guess most of the world knows who George Washington is. Even if they don't like hardcore study the American Revolution in history class, it is still part of the seven years war.
Yea, guy! Septa Regional Rail should take over the 25th street viaduct in South Philly with some stops and regional rail should run more like a S-Bahn/RER. What an exciting opportunity for Philadelphia.
Yes! I've said the same. The Regional Rail lines have so much unrealized potential in the city often with station stops already spaced like a subway. I live near Wayne Junction which has at least 5-6 regional rail lines running through it--many don't utilize it but it is a 10 minute trip into Center City with trains every 15 minutes or so.
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Originally Posted by OyCrumbler
We can be a ham and include JFK and LaGuardia visitors.
People from other countries visiting or staying with relatives in Queens are also a piece of the pie. Then there’s the US Open and events at Citi Field.
Yeah, there's also Rockaway Beach-I don't think many tourists go there but it's a day-trip destination for many New Yorkers. My friend's family thought it was funny at one point there was a "hipster bus" running from Williamsburg to Rockaway on Summer weekends.
In terms of urban identity, Philly actually does its own thing while Queens is pretty much obscured in Manhattan’s shadow. Brooklyn is the only other borough that can claim some sort of recognizable identity outside of the NY metro.
Others have already addressed Queens, but you really don’t think that The Bronx has any sort of identity at all either? Birthplace of hip hop, Yankee Stadium, The Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Boogie Down, various TV/Movies etc.
Well some neighborhoods in NYC do well in terms of having small streets Bushwick doesn't seem to have any streets wider than one lane in each direction, and most of the streets are one way, single lane streets. I think that's part of the appeal of the neighborhood.
Because of the streets being like that though, taking the shuttle that replaces the L train sometimes is a nightmare!
The neighboring neigborhoods like Maspeth and Ridgewood seem to be like this too. Little to no wide streets.
Philly streets are narrow to me. Hard to drive and park. Drove a U Haul there once and it was the worst experience ever!
I find Southern Brooklyn to be super urban too, though! The fact that Coney Island is that urban and very far from Manhattan is impressive.
Southern Brooklyn has subway service, high population density, and is structurally dense (even if less so than Northern BK).
The only parts of Brooklyn that come close to being suburban are those fringe areas like Mill Basin, but even that neighborhood is not 100% suburban.
As for your point about Queens having had been different towns, I don't know if I agree. Most of the housing stock and subway lines were built after the merger. And Brooklyn was also various towns at one point.
As for going out in Queens, do tell!
Coney Island is not impressive it’s an area that’s filled with low income housing and Housing projects and one of the poorest communities in NYC. That’s one of the biggest reasons why Coney Island is as urban as it is.
Sea Gate next door to Coney is an entire different ball game
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