Lemur, can I in turn express my surprise at your surprise? Surely at least the Irish Potato Famine should be well known to American audiences? And how do you think Australia became white?

But you touch on an important issue. There is a tendency in British historiography to paint an all too rosy picture of the British Empire, of British decolonialism. All those nice pink-coloured territories on the face of the earth weren't exactly dying to become part of splendid Albion. Some studies go as far as calling the British Empire 'defensive in nature'. An accidental empire, instated to protect British trading interests.
Part of a general tendency to believe in British exceptionalism maybe.

Also, you left out France on your list of genocidal maniac nations.

Quote Originally Posted by Meneldil
That's why I always laught at french history teachers who keep saying that the brits were, unlike us, nice and polite settlers.
Aye, they need a better example for this eternal self-flagellation that passes for history class nowadays.

Me, I am happy that there has been some sort of re-assesment of France's colonial past in recent years. Colonialism was not entirely negative. Some of the more positive and constructive elements are nowadays part of the school curricula as well.