Renowned historian Linda Colley is well-known for her research on British history and relations with other countries, especially the US. She considers the important distinctions between the founding ideals of America and Britain in one of her perceptive comments.

Colley notes that many elements of the then-dominant European governance were rejected when the United States was founded. Monarchies, aristocracies, nobility titles, and systems in which property and power are exclusively inherited by the firstborn son were abolished by the founding fathers of the United States. This signaled a dramatic turn toward equality and democracy.

Britain, on the other hand, was able to preserve a number of these old institutions while continuing to develop into what might eventually become a more egalitarian society. Colley stresses that this transformation has not yet been fully realized or proven conclusively.

She uses the journey of a river through shifting landscapes to demonstrate her point. The American story is like a river carving a new course through solid rock, completely unencumbered by its historical limitations. Britain's path, on the other hand, is comparable to a river that meanders through ancient plains and valleys, progressively changing its course while preserving aspects of the former terrain.

Colley uses this metaphor to show how each nation has followed a different route to equality and modernization, with the US having broken more decisively from its past and Britain still attempting to find a new social direction while navigating its established institutions.