America's British Influence: From the Great Migrations to the Inklings

By Dr. Gary L. Gregg, McConnell Center Director


Sitting in the student common room at St. Clare's, Oxford, its hard to believe its been nine months since we began a journey to explore the influence Great Britain has had on the United States. From the earliest colonization through the four great migrations (Puritans, Quakers, Cavaliers, and people from back country of northern England and Scotland) to Shakespeare and the transformative literary production of the Inklings of Oxford, we explored the heritage of England and how it has influenced the wider western tradition.


As I sit here this morning, Zach Barnes by my side reading Joseph Addison's theories on landscape architecture in preparation for our visit to Blenheim Palace, I reflect on how far we have come and yet how far we each have to go in connecting ourselves to the great tradition that found flower in the American experience. From our common tongue in the English language to the inheritance of English liberty our founders sought to preserve and promote; from the learning of the medieval colleges that connected the world from the Greeks to their own hour, to the literary imagination of the giants of the 20th century literary imagination, our English patrimony looms large over our shoulders and illuminates the path before us.

We all felt particularly inadequate yesterday as medievalist Paul Sinclair took us on a walking tour of the Colleges of Oxford. We all have more than a lifetime of learning waiting on us. I hope this trip to Oxford will rekindle the dedication we each have to using the lifetime we have to learn and grow in the great traditions of human history.

And now, since J.R.R. Tolkien's house is one block away from where I sit, I am off to explore and pay my respects before it is time for breakfast!