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Social Studies Videos 51 videos

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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.

Language:
English Language

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]

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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