Are the Best Parts of America British?

How the U.S. Was Shaped By What It Adopted—and What It Didn’t—From the U.K.

If you’ve ever seen close siblings argue, you will get a sense of the relationship between Britain and America—and a sense of the discussion trying to define this relationship at a Smithsonian/Zócalo “What It Means to Be American” event at the British Museum in London.

In front of a full auditorium, a panel of experts challenged, interrupted, and joked with one another in a wide-ranging conversation that covered McDonald’s, gun control, President Obama, and English philosopher John Locke. There was no doubt that America owed a great deal to Britain, but …