The English South African, His History, Culture and Achievements
Take Britain. Within that country there are a number of nations: the English, the Scots, the Welsh. At one time, long ago, each one of these nations had their own country: England, Scotland, Wales. These were nation-states. But the time came when they were forged together, comprising the nation of Britain.
Now what happens, say, when one meets a man from Scotland? When one asks him what he is, what would he answer? Well, if one asked him what country he came from, he might say “Britain”. He would say he is British. But if one probed further, he might reply that he is a Scot. Is Scotland a separate state today? No, it is a part of Britain. Why, then, would he say he is a Scot? He would say this because he is a descendant of people from Scotland.
There are thus “Scottish Britons”, “English Britons”, and “Welsh Britons”. The second name denotes the larger state of which they are citizens.
In like manner, Paul the apostle called himself a Roman citizen. He was a Jew by descent, birth, and heritage; but he was also a citizen of the city of Tarsus (Acts 21:39), and a freeborn Roman citizen (Acts 22:25-29). He was thus a “Jewish Roman”. The second name would denote the larger empire of which he was a citizen. For the Roman Empire was not a nation-state. It was a union of many different nations. There were “Egyptian Romans”, “Jewish Romans”, “Spanish Romans”, etc., etc.
Most nations of the world, in fact, are forged this way. Take the Zulus. Until the time of King Shaka, the Zulus were just one of many small Bantu tribes in their region. But Shaka, by military conquest, merged all those tribes into one, a larger nation, and thus the much-expanded Zulu nation was born. So Zululand under Shaka was not, strictly speaking, a nation-state; it was a conglomeration of nations (tribes if you will) which had been forged together and were known now collectively as Zulus. And then later still, the Zulu nation became part of a still larger nation, which called itself the South African nation. The Zulus today are just one of many “tribes” (nations) within what is called South Africa! Thus they are “Zulu South Africans.”
And so it has ever been, down through the centuries, all around the world. A nation may begin as a nation-state, having its own territorial boundary in which only one nation, essentially, lives. But then it is conquered by, or in some way is taken into, a greater conglomeration of nations, becoming just one nation (or tribe) among many, which together form a larger, new nation.
Take the United States of America. When the original settlers arrived from England, they came to call themselves Americans. This was the name that was adopted. But as people started to emigrate to America from other lands, they were of two types. There were those who were similar to the original Americans of English descent, who were able to assimilate into the American population fairly easily; these, too, just called themselves Americans. But then there were those emigrants who were in many ways very different from the original Americans, in language, customs, culture, religion, appearance, etc., and who did not easily assimilate and lose their former national identities by melting into the American nation. And because they were so different, and because they retained their differences, they began calling themselves, or began to be called by others, such things as “Irish Americans”, “African Americans”, “Mexican Americans”, etc.
Despite its “melting pot” boast, the United States of America is not a nation-state. Many people from different nations live within the borders of America, and not all of them have assimilated so as to lose their identities by becoming, simply, “Americans.” They do not feel one with those who think of themselves solely as Americans, nor do such Americans feel one with them. The differences are just too great.
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Filed under: History without the humbug