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Social Studies 5: Kind of Sort of Independent: Commonwealth Countries 8 Views
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Description:
Over time, the British Empire has certainly gotten around. Hope it's got a license to colonize.
Transcript
- 00:04
[Dino and Coop singing]
- 00:13
There's an old saying that goes, “the sun never sets on the British Empire.” [The sun setting]
- 00:18
But it wasn’t because the Brits employed some crazy powerful wizards to defy the laws [A wizard stops the sun]
- 00:22
of time and space and keep the sun shining 24/7.
- 00:25
Though that would be pretty cool… [Gandalf holding the sun still]
Full Transcript
- 00:27
No, the saying referred to the fact that in its heyday, England had colonies all over [Old British colonies are highlighted on a globe]
- 00:32
the world, so chances were it was always daylight in some part of the British Empire.
- 00:37
But over time, these colonies decided they needed some space, and many left the British
- 00:42
Empire.
- 00:43
You’re probably familiar with some of those colonies.
- 00:45
But even as countries broke up with the British Empire… [Canada and Britain crying at a table]
- 00:48
… some still wanted to stay friends.
- 00:50
Guess they changed their relationship status to "it's complicated." [Canada changing its relationship status]
- 00:55
That friendship became the British Commonwealth, later changed to The Commonwealth of Nations.
- 00:59
Or sometimes, just simply The Commonwealth.
- 01:01
We wonder if The Commonwealth also changed their Facebook name to "it's complicated."
- 01:06
Anyway.
- 01:07
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of countries, meaning member nations are free [Coop pointing at a blackboard]
- 01:11
to come and go as they please.
- 01:12
They are united by things like a common language, shared values such as holding fair and open" [Dino pointing at a blackboard]
- 01:17
elections, and respecting human rights.
- 01:19
Not too shabby...
- 01:21
They probably also had matching bro tanks, or something… [Two athletes called Britain and Kenya high five]
- 01:24
The Commonwealth is made up of 53 countries ranging from some of the richest to some of
- 01:28
the poorest in the world.
- 01:30
It includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and a whole bunch more, [The countries are circled]
- 01:37
comprising different types of governments.
- 01:39
Now you may be wondering, what about the British Queen? [The queen appears]
- 01:41
Does Her Majesty get to rule the Commonwealth with an iron fist? [The queen holding up Iron Man's fist]
- 01:45
After all, it was King George’s ability to do whatever he wanted to his colonies that
- 01:49
led to the American Revolution. [George Washington rips up King George's map]
- 01:51
Well, as of 2016, Queen Elizabeth II is technically the Head of the Commonwealth.
- 01:57
She also rules supreme over 15 of the countries in the Commonwealth. [The queen wearing 15 crowns]
- 02:00
But when it comes to her actual power, it’s largely symbolic.
- 02:03
No matter what, the Queen has to respect the laws of the individual nations in the Commonwealth. [The queen falls over from the weight of the crowns]
- 02:08
So even if she wanted to, she doesn’t have the power to pass some crazy law that everyone
- 02:12
in the Commonwealth has to obey… [Queen holds up 'mandatory corgi ownership' law]
- 02:14
Which means that unfortunately, mandatory corgi ownership will never be a law. [Men look scared of the corgis]
- 02:19
And actually, all major decisions for the Commonwealth are made at meetings that occur
- 02:22
bi-annually – that’s every two years – where a bunch of heads of Commonwealth Governments [A commonwealth meeting]
- 02:26
get together.
- 02:27
The group has a really original name, too.
- 02:29
They’re known as…
- 02:30
The Commonwealth Head of Governments.
- 02:33
…Okay, so they're not super creative.
- 02:35
The Commonwealth also hosts its own Olympics-style sporting event every four years. [Pictures of the commonwealth games]
- 02:40
To date, Australia leads the countries in wins, with over 700 medals. [A kangaroo on top of the podium]
- 02:45
No word yet on those vicious accusations about wallaby steroid use... [A wallaby's arms get muscly]
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