L’empire idéal chez William Barron : une union impériale intégrant l’Amérique, d’après les modèles antiques et écossais

Abstract

In the midst of the debate opposing supporters and opponents to the British government’s policy in America, an unknown Scotsman proposed a way out of the imperial crisis. In his pamphlet entitled The History of the Colonization of the Free States of Antiquity (1777), William Barron develops an analysis of the unfolding conflict with the Thirteen Colonies of America based on his understanding of colonization in ancient civilizations. Antiquity is endowed with a double didactic role. On the one hand, ancient forms of colonization are mirrored in the British Empire and appear as models which the American colonists should comply with. On the other hand, Republican Rome and the Anglo-Scottish Union provide examples to make the case that granting the Americans representatives in Parliament would bring the conflict to an end.