Little Englander#History

The original Little England movement originated among manufacturers in Manchester and found support among journalists such as Goldwin Smith. The movement objected to the protectionist stance of British Canada, which was exemplified by the tariff increase of 1859.{{clarify|date=September 2022}} The English manufacturers resented paying taxes to defend a colony that imported few British goods, but exported so many to England. Moreover, it was believed that the United States could become a much more important partner, as it was already Britain's best customer outside Europe. There was also a social element to the movement. The Manchester School opposed the Empire for providing sinecures for the idle sons of the aristocracy at the expense of productive industrialists at home.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nzumalaEe40C&pg=PA24 | pages=24–27 | title=British Businessmen and Canadian Confederation: Constitution Making in an Era of Anglo-Globalization | first=Andrew | last=Smith | publisher = McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP | year=2008 | isbn= 9780773575004}} The Little England stance was adopted by a wing of the Liberal Party typified by William Gladstone (1809–1898), who opposed many of Britain's military ventures in the late 19th century. It is particularly associated with opposition to the Second Boer War (1899–1902). Arthur Ponsonby wrote of the Liberal leader Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman's 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".F. W. Hirst, In The Golden Days (London: Frederick Muller, 1947), p. 253.

The term "little England" predates its political usage; the expression "this little England" was used in the Gunpowder Day sermon of the English Puritan preacher Thomas Hooker (5 November 1626).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. It is also used in Shakespeare's play Henry VIII (1601), when the Old Lady tells Anne Boleyn: "In faith, for little England / You'd venture an emballing: / I myself would for Carnarvonshire."

The Cambridge online dictionary defines "Little Englander" as "an English person who thinks England is better than all other countries, and that England should only work together with other countries when there is an advantage for England in doing so".{{Cite web|url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/little-englander|title=little Englander | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary|website=dictionary.cambridge.org}} The term has been used as a derogatory term for English nationalists and British people who are xenophobic or overly nationalistic.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/little-englanders-david-cameron-immigration|title=Who are these 'little Englanders' David Cameron is playing to?|last1=Crace|first1=John|date=11 June 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=9 February 2019|quote=In short, it has become a byword for small-minded bigotry.}} It has also been applied to opponents of globalism, multilateralism, and internationalism.{{Cite web|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-eurosceptic-union-is-forming-across-europe/|title=A Eurosceptic union is forming across Europe|date=2016-12-06|website=Coffee House|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-09}} Since the 2010s, especially post-Brexit, the term has gained popularity as a derogatory way to describe supporters of English nationalism and xenophobia. For this reason, it is similar to the insult "gammon", which has been used in British political culture since 2012.

• Gammon (insult)
• Merry England

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Category:Anti-imperialism in Europe

Category:Libertarianism in England

Category:Politics of England

Category:Resistance to the British Empire