In the last couple of years, some outlets like the New York Times and Vox will run articles questioning the War of Independence. But I suspect no one takes these seriously. It’s an attempt at generating a few hate clicks during a slow news week.

Unlike Ireland, America is blessed by its geography and history with an ability to not care so much about the British, and not agonize so much about our now old history of conflict with them. Unlike Hungary, America doesn’t feel itself to be so vulnerable, so we don’t celebrate our mere survival, or solemnly remind ourselves of the preciousness of independence. We just have fun. We eat hamburgers and hot dogs which may have German origins. We pull out Chinese fireworks, and Russian symphonic pieces. My guess is even a huge number of people who would be happy to wear the epithet “nativist” to mark their views on immigration will nonetheless be eating hummus or guacamole while they watch Trump review the tanks.

And this is as it should be. The most perspicacious of the English understood that as soon as Americans started to get beyond the Appalachian mountains, we would be cut off from the motherland. Some of them thought we would revert to a kind of semi-barbarian form of life out there. Maybe a few of us have.