Colley sees Britain's many wars with France in the eighteenth century as central catalysts in the forging of this British national identity. Colley argues that a British national identity was built around a very specific foundation of anti-Catholicism in response to the threats posed by Catholic France. Britain was one of few nations during this time period that was able to become successful champions of Protestantism in Europe, especially in opposition to France. France was Catholic and posed as a menace for Britain. This Catho

In 1992, when Linda Colley wrote this book, a political debate on British national identity emerged in Britain. Initiated by Scottish and Welsh nationalism and the delayed cultural shock of extensive immigration, it made its way to the top of the political agenda. Colley conveniently published her book Britons when this debate arrived at the forefront of the national consciousness in Britain. Colley has since gone on to publish another book, Captives, in which she describes what life was like for captives who were held as prisoners in foreign circumstances and how this helped Britons define a national identity as well. Even though these people were held as prisoners by foreign countries, they never gave in to the temptations that were imposed upon them and remained faithful to their homeland. Captives were now coming into contact with these people of different cultures that detained them. But somehow, these captives were able to adapt to the new situations they found themselves involved in, almost like a chameleon adapts to its surroundings. The captives remained in this environment until they were released, but the entire time, they learned about how other countries and societies viewed the Britons. To a certain extent, these captives could be seen as spies. The captives held a strong sense of British national identity and what it meant to be British and no one was going to take that away from them. A unified nation always sticks together, especially a nation with a strong sense of what it meant to be British.

Colley also questions the barring of women from meaningful participation in society. As the eighteenth century progressed, the debate over a woman’s proper place in society grew intense, not just in Britain, but throughout Western Europe and North America. In all of these locations, women were excluded from the political arena and held no political rights. Through the legal contract of marriage, women were under the legal authority of their husbands. Under these contracts, woman owned nothing, not even the clothes on their backs. However, the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France required many men to leave home as soldiers, and thus created an excessive division between the sexes. Many female Britons opposed the wars and viewed them as sinful or wrong and oppressive. Yet, when war broke out in 1793, British women banded together and provided warm clothing for their British troops. Even though they were a

Some topics in this essay:
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