ABSTRACT
Where does the United States fit into global histories of modern empire? This essay contends that A.G. Hopkins's depiction of nineteenth century America as the modern world's first postcolonial polity not only imaginatively advances the project of globalising U.S. history, it also reveals the ongoing significance of America to the expansion and development of the British Empire itself. Viewing the British Empire through its deep and diverse connections to postcolonial America underscores the integration, dynamism, power, and vulnerability of the British imperial system in its Victorian heyday.
