Little Englander

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Little Englander is a term dating from the time of the Second Boer War (1899–1901). The term then designated people who were against the British Empire and for "England" to extend no further than the borders of the United Kingdom. For example Arthur Ponsonby wrote of the Liberal Party leader Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's reputation for his opposition to the Boer War: "The impression one got of him from the Press in those days was...that he was an unpatriotic Little Englander".^[1]

Now, a "Little Englander" is usually applied by the centre and centre-left to those who are regarded as xenophobic and/or overly patriotic and are often accused of being ignorant and boorish. It is also sometimes applied to those who are against membership of the European Union.

The political implications of the term have, therefore, changed. "Little Englanders" anti-imperialist and or at the least pro-Boer. They were drawn from both the left and the right. In modern times, however, "Little Englanders" are drawn almost exclusively from the far right.

[edit] Notes

^ F. W. Hirst, In The Golden Days (London: Frederick Muller, 1947), p. 253.

[edit] See also

The expression "this little England" was used in the Gunpowder Day sermon of the English Puritan preacher Thomas Hooker (5th November 1626). Reference - p.62 of The Puritans in America: A Narrative Anthology, edited by Alan Heimert and Andrew Delbanco. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985. 438 pages.