Aur Australians...

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Our country's ties with England are not those of Commonwealth, but those of affection, excepting the period 1775-1814 when things were bitter. Cultural connection, over any extensive period of time, trumps political division.

Bitter, yes; but not so bitter as to allow that to interrupt a lucrative and mutually beneficial trading relationship. The French meanwhile, who'd assisted the fledgling nation in its bid for independence, were pretty much frozen out of trade with America. I think the bitterness dissipated remarkably quickly between Britain and America, considerably before 1815; though things remained tense certainly.

For real bitterness you need to look at Anglo-French relations during that period and the preceding 130 years.