| Abstract |
America, that is, the United States, has been called the "first new nation." It won its independence from Britain's colonial empire. Two centuries later it finds itself described as an empire, by Americans and non-Americans alike. The irony of this transformation comes out most clearly in the trans-Atlantic relationship, in particular with the former mother-country Britain, but more generally with Europe as well. After all, alongside Britain, other European countries, such as Spain, France, and the Netherlands, were among the first to colonize and settle the North American continent.
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