Thanks for the reference to the Restoration Colonies- two of my ancestors came to America in 1654 and I hadn't seen all of the reasons for this. They were Anglican, but I don't think he wanted to leave his wife behind if conscription was in practice.
You are welcome. I'm amazed at how many have looked at this thread, so I don't mind devoting a little time to it.
It is very important to understand the pivotal forces that formed this country. The two big forces were the English protestant accession and especially the events leading and resulting from the Civil war. The other of course was the French revolution.
After the War of independence the US was very much in he French orbit. Washington is very much a French city, with a French architect L'Enfance. The Napoleonic war lead to more trouble with England and the war of 1812. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the US became very much under the orbit of the English again, with the Royal Navy especially protecting the sea lanes and allowing America to prosper from trade. By 1901 American industrial output surpassed UK industrial output.
However to really understand it all you have to go back to Rome and Greece. Rome left English shores for good around 450 BC. After that history is murky, but we do get glimpses from the Saxon Chronicle.
The big problems was Danish marauders who split England in two. The Dane Law was in the eastern counties especially of East Anglia. How the Danes navigated is very much a mystery. All their ships were rowed, but with sail at the rear and only of use when the wind was astern.
Alfred the Great set up the first dockyard at Chatham on the River Medway, to develop ships that did not require oars and could sail close to the wind. There was no rudder, but a steering oar. The Danish long boats were no match for these ships. This nightmare all wound up in 991 at the battle of Malden in Essex.
Even a lot of the Spanish ships in the Armada in the reign of Elizabeth I had oars, and met a terrible fate at the hands of Drake and Hawkins.
The next pivotal event was the Norman invasion and the Battle of Hastings in 1066. William the Conqueror was a prize Bureaucrat and cataloged every thing in England. The lingua franka became French until Chaucer left from the Tabbard Inn in Southwark right were I trained at Guys Hospital. He made the pilgrimage to Canterbury across the North Downs, and gave an account in his Canterbury Tales. This was the start of the avalanche of great English literature, and the ascent of the English Language. This was 1387 to 1400.
The beginnings of English democracy go back to Henry II (Henry Plantaganet). He wrote of the importance of curbing the power of kings. The Magna Carta and the Oxford Provisions forced from King John are another mile stone.
The other factor that made England different was the development of English Common Law and case law which is part and parcel of it. This developed from the Norman Conquest on.
The rest of Europe to all intense and purposes follows Roman Law.
American jurisprudence is founded entirely on English Common Law and NOT Roman law. This pretty much goes for all of the English speaking peoples and binds them uniquely.
Any of you who followed the Amanda Knox case in the Italian courts should be well aware of the chasm that exists between English Common Law and Roman Law.
This difference in jurisprudence is another fault line that makes the UK a poor match for the EU.
So yes, history is important in understanding the events shaping our modern world. It is hard to go back too far.