Two Centuries of Transatlantic Harmony

Sulgrave Symposium, hosted at George Washington University, marks 200 years of peace between the U.S. and Britain with discussions of shared culture.

October 13, 2014

Denver Brunsman

Denver Brunsman, associate professor of history, spoke of how naval impressment was a major cause of the War of 1812.

By Ruth Steinhardt

The 200-year anniversary of any friendship would deserve major commemoration. For the United States and the United Kingdom, whose history is marked by some fairly major disagreements—including the Revolutionary War—the duration is particularly impressive.

In commemoration, the George Washington University hosted the Sulgrave Symposium in Jack Morton Auditorium on Friday. Named in honor of Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of George Washington located in Oxfordshire, England, the event highlighted the history and joint contributions of the U.K. and U.S. in the areas of diplomacy, government and academia.

The date marked the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, which officially ended the War of 1812 and opened what University President Steven Knapp called, in his opening remarks, “200 years of peace and profound friendship” between the two nations.

“I’m very pleased to host today’s events in partnership with the Mount Vernon Estate and the Friends of Sulgrave Manor, because we share among us a deep connection to our university’s namesake,” Dr. Knapp said.

In agreement was Barbara Lucas, the regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, who said that President Washington perfectly represented the overlap between British and American culture—the very overlap that the symposium was convened to celebrate.

“Despite his central role in winning independence for the American colonies, Washington was shaped in fundamental ways by his English heritage and traditions,” she said. “For much of his life he strove to be a model English gentleman.”

Final opening remarks came from Norman Hudson, chairman of the Sulgrave Trust, who explained why Sulgrave Manor was, and remains, an important and unique site.

Bought and restored 100 years ago by a group comprising both Britons and Americans, Sulgrave Manor “is much more than just another grand house museum,” Mr. Hudson said.

“Our distinctive collection shows how people in the 16th century lived in such a manor house—the sort of manor house which anchors almost every English village.” The house’s nature and mission, he said, are reflective of “the passions and patriotism” of scholars and history enthusiasts on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Sulgrave Manor aspires to be a source of discovery and shared values for people of all nations, to bring the past to life by fostering thoughtful engagement with historical objects of all kinds,” he said. “But in particular, [it is] a touchstone for Britons and Americans to understand their intertwined identity.”

The symposium’s first session—tactfully titled “Before the Friendship”—was a panel discussion led by Denver Brunsman, an associate professor of history at GW whose courses include “George Washington and His World” taught annually at the Mount Vernon Estate. Dr. Brunsman, along with two of his colleagues, presented on subjects pertinent to both nations in the early 19th century at the fraught moment when Americans and Britons were passing from a relationship between colonial ruler and subject to one between distinct nations.

Dr. Brunsman’s subject was naval impressment: the convention, long-practiced in England, of ganging up on civilians, preferably sailors, and compelling them by force to join the British Navy. The custom, said Dr. Brunsman, was necessary for a small island nation to preserve a global empire. It would, however, be a major cause of the War of 1812, when American citizens—both by accident and design—continued to be pressed into service by the Navy of a nation of whom they were no longer subjects.

In fact, Dr. Brunsman said, impressment would be one reason that Americans developed a citizen identity distinct from their former colonizer. Being able to prove American citizenship was a form of protection from impressment—albeit not always an effective one—which in turn helped cement American solidarity in the fragile post-Revolutionary years.

Daniel DeWispelare, assistant professor of English, pointed out another force of both affinity and tension for the two nations: language. The English language, Dr. DeWispelare said, contains a range of dialects and varieties that were, and are, “not always mutually comprehensible.”

Part of the reason, he said, is that English—unlike, for example, French—has no regulatory body. However, proscriptive texts like Samuel Johnson’s “Dictionary of the English Language,” which unofficially defined correct and incorrect ways to speak, could be a way for the British Empire to project strength and unity. As the American dialect began to distinguish itself more and more from the British, its separate identity developed too.

Last to present was Karen Ahlquist, an associate professor of music, who brought three unusual co-presenters: two singers and a pianist, who illustrated Dr. Ahlquist’s presentation on 19th-century British theatrical music with examples of the form.

“Beyond reading and speaking, vocal music could and did help perpetuate common traditions” between Britain and the U.S., Dr. Ahlquist said. British theater companies exported pieces to the U.S. American audiences helped choose the musical and dramatic norms that would come to define the form.

After a break—for tea, naturally—Dane Kennedy, Elmer Louis Kayser professor of history and international affairs, moderated the second session of the day, “British and U.S. Systems of Campaign Finance and Elections.” The other panelists were Lady Jill Knight, honorary president of the Sulgrave Manor Trust and member of the House of Lords, Parliament, and Trevor Potter, former commissioner and chairman of the U.S. Federal Election Commission.

Mount Vernon, the Virginia home of President Washington, hosted the symposium’s second day on Saturday with a special viewing of Francis Scott Key’s original draft of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and talks from scholars hailing from institutions across the country. Mount Vernon has a long and close association with GW, having this year hosted both the launch of the university’s “Making History” campaign and its inaugural “First Night” celebration for the entire freshman class.