The roots of American freedom

Our cousins across the Atlantic might say America went wrong when we stopped being British. Certainly the alternatives to the Revolution are one of the great "what ifs" of history. Better statesmanship in the 1700s might have prevented the fragmentation of the empire "on which the sun never sets."

If we're to learn from history, it makes sense not only to mine a vein that is 230 years old, but to go to the 'mother lode' as well. Our Founding Fathers certainly looked at the heritage of English Common Law as they launched their new nation. Naturally, I'm not the only one on the 'Net asking "where did it go wrong?" This blog post does a fantastic job looking at the best of all the legacies of freedom bequeathed to the once vast British Empire.

Like a family tree, there are many branches with the experiences of the British, Irish, Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians and Americans. None of them got it "perfect," but with so many variations on a common theme, there's plenty of lessons to draw from.