English American

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Total population
25,927,345 (2010 ACS)[1] Down from 1980 census[2]
Regions with significant populations
Throughout entire United States Plurality in Utah, Vermont [3], Maine and every Southern state[4]
California 4,946,554[4] Texas 3,083,323[4] Ohio 2,371,236[4] New York 2,320,503[4] Florida 2,232,514[4] Michigan 2,036,021[4] Illinois 1,808,333[4] North Carolina 1,778,008[4] Georgia 1,584,303[4] Tennessee 1,435,147[4] Pennsylvania 1,058,737[5]
Religion
Predominately Christian (Episcopalian • Methodist • Baptist • Mormon • Congregationalism • Other Protestant • Roman Catholic, etc.)  · Irreligious · Jewish · Buddhist and other minorities.
Related ethnic groups
Americans · American ethnicity · English people · English Canadians · British Americans

English Americans (occasionally known as Anglo-Americans, although this may have a wider linguistic meaning) are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England.

According to American Community Survey in 2010 data, Americans reporting English ancestry made up an estimated 9.0% of the total U.S. population, and form the third largest European ancestry group after German Americans and Irish Americans.^[6] However, demographers regard this as an undercount, as the index of inconsistency is high, and many, if not most, people from English stock have a tendency to identify simply as Americans^{[7][8][9][10]} or, if of mixed European ancestry, nominate a more recent and differentiated ethnic group.^[11] Throughout the nineteenth century, England was the largest investor in American land development, railroads, mining, cattle ranching, and heavy industry. Perhaps because English settlers gained easy acceptance, they founded few organizations dedicated to preserving the traditions of their homeland.

In the 1980 United States Census, over 49 million (49,598,035) Americans claimed English ancestry, at the time around 26.34% of the total population and largest reported group which, even today, would make them the largest ethnic group in the United States.^[12][13]. This outnumbered the population of England at the time.

In 1982, an opinion poll organization showed respondents a card listing a number of ethnic groups and asked, "Thinking both of what they have contributed to this country and have gotten from this country, for each one tell me whether you think, on balance, they've been a good or a bad thing for this country". The English were the top ethnic group with 66% saying they were a good thing for the United States, followed by the Irish at 62%.^[14]

Virginia Dare born 1587 Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, was the first child born in the Thirteen Colonies to English parents.

The overwhelming majority of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America were of English extraction, including Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, James Madison^[15] and Thomas Jefferson.

As with most immigrant groups, the English later sought economic prosperity and began migrating in large numbers without state support, particularly in the 19th century.^[16]

Sense of identity[link]

Americans of English heritage are often seen as simply "American" due to the many cultural ties between the two countries and their impact on the American population which has hardly disappeared. This is due to the fact that the non-English population did not arrive in full force overnight and implemented early on.^[17]

They are less likely to proclaim it in the face of the upsurge of ethnic pride and loyalties by African-Americans, Irish-Americans, Italian-Americans, Mexican-Americans or other ethnic groups. After centuries of intermarriage and internal geographic mobility, many are unable to determine a specific English origin. For these reasons, no other part of the pluralist American society is so difficult to describe as a separate entity as the English. English immigrants were and are often seen as an invisible ethnic group, due to the length of time their ancestors may have been in the United States with the founding colonists being English people.^[18]

There is little or no celebration of the English Patron Saint St. George's Day other than by the Boy Scouts of America^{[citation needed]}.

Number of English Americans[link]

Map with      England and the       United States highlighted. Shows the first permanent English settlement of Jamestown in 1607.

From the time of the first permanent English presence in the New World until 1900, these immigrants outnumbered all others, therefore the cultural pattern had been firmly established as the American model.^[19]

1775 estimates[link]

According to the United States Historical Census Data Base (USHCDB) (2002), the ethnic populations in the American Colonies of 1775 were:

1790 Census[link]

The United States Census of 1790 was the first census conducted in the United States. It was conducted on August 2, 1790. The ancestry of the 3,929,214 population in 1790 has been estimated by various sources by sampling last names in the very first United States official census and assigning them a country of origin.^[22] The estimate results indicate that people of English ancestry made up about 47.5% of the total population or 60.9% of the European American population. Some 80.7% of the total United States population was of European heritage.^[23] Around 757,208 were of African descent with 697,624 being slaves. Of the remaining population, more than 75% was of British origin.^[24]

The states with the highest percentage of English ancestry were Massachusetts 82%, Vermont 76%, Rhode Island 71%, Virginia including West Virginia 68.5%, Connecticut 67%, Maryland incl.DC 64.5%, North Carolina 66%, New Hampshire 61%, South Carolina 60.2%, Maine 60%, Delaware 60%, Kentucky and Tennessee 57.9%, Georgia 57.4%, New York 52%, New Jersey 47%, Pennsylvania 35.3%,

2000 Census[link]

In the 2000 census, 24.5 million Americans reported English ancestry, 8.7% of the total U.S. population. This estimate is probably a serious undercount by over 30 million given that, in the 1980 census, around 50 million citizens claimed to be of at least partial English ancestry. In 1980, 23,748,772 Americans claimed wholly English ancestry and another 25,849,263 claimed English along with another ethnic ancestry.^[28]

In 1860, an estimated 11 million or almost 35% of the population of the United States was wholly or primarily of English ancestry. The population has increased by almost ten times the numbers in 1860. As with any ethnicity, Americans of English descent may choose to identify themselves as just 'American ethnicity' if their ancestry has been in the United States for many generations or if, for the same reason, they are unaware of their lineages.

English expatriates[link]

In total, there are estimated to be around 678,000 British born expatriates in the United States with the majority of these being English. ^[29] By American definition there are around 540,000 English people of any race in the United States, 40,000 Asian English, 20,000 Black British people and approximately 10,000 people of a mixed background.^[30]

Distribution[link]

Hildale, Utah has 66.9% of its population of English descent.

Panguitch, Utah has 40.0%.

Following are the top 20 highest percentages of people of English ancestry, in U.S. communities with 500 or more total inhabitants (for the total list of the 101 communities, see the reference):^[31]

1. Hildale, UT 66.9%
2. Colorado City, AZ 52.7%
3. Milbridge, ME 41.1%
4. Panguitch, UT 40.0%
5. Beaver, UT 39.8%
6. Enterprise, UT 39.4%
7. East Machias, ME 39.1%
8. Marriott-Slaterville, UT 38.2%
9. Wellsville, UT 37.9%
10. Morgan, UT 37.2%
11. Harrington, ME 36.9%
12. Farmington, UT 36.9%
13. Highland, UT 36.7%
14. Nephi, UT 36.4%
15. Fruit Heights, UT 35.9%
16. Addison, ME 35.6%
17. Farr West, UT 35.4%
18. Hooper, UT 35.0%
19. Lewiston, UT 35.0%
20. Plain City, UT 34.7%

States[link]

English Americans are found in large numbers throughout America, particularly in the Northeast and West. According to the 2000 US census, the 10 states with the largest populations of self reported English Americans are

English was the highest reported European ancestry in the states of Maine, Vermont and Utah; joint highest along with German in the Carolinas.

Maps[link]

Percentages by county.

Population by state.

Percentages by U.S. State.

On the left, a map showing percentages by county of Americans who declared English ancestry in the 2000 Census. Dark blue and purple colours indicate a higher percentage: highest in the east and west (see also Maps of American ancestries). Center, a map showing the population of English Americans by state. On the right, a map showing the percentages of English Americans by state.

History[link]

Reenactment of the first landing where John Smith claims the beach for England

A statue in Historic Jamestowne commemorating the site of the first permanent English settlement in America.

Early settlement and colonization[link]

English settlement in America began with Jamestown in the Virginia Colony in 1607. With the permission of James I, three ships (the Susan Constant, The Discovery, and The God Speed) sailed from England and landed at Cape Henry in April, under the captainship of Christopher Newport,^[16] who had been hired by the London Company to lead expeditions to what is now America.^[32]

The second successful colony was Plymouth Colony, founded in 1620 by people who later became known as the Pilgrims. Fleeing religious persecution in the East Midlands in England, they first went to Holland, but feared losing their English identity.^[33] Because of this, they chose to relocate to the New World, with their voyage being financed by English investors.^[34] In September 1620, 102 passengers set sail aboard the Mayflower, eventually settling at Plymouth Colony in November.^[35] This story has become a central theme in the United States cultural identity.

A number of English colonies were established under a system of proprietary governors, who were appointed under mercantile charters to English joint stock companies to found and run settlements.

England also took over the Dutch colony of New Netherland (including the New Amsterdam settlement), renaming it the Province of New York in 1664.^[36] With New Netherland, the English came to control the former New Sweden (in what is now Delaware), which the Dutch had conquered from Sweden earlier.^[37] This became part of Pennsylvania.

English immigration after 1776[link]

An estimated 3.5 million English emigrated to the U.S. after 1776.^[40] English settlers provided a steady and substantial influx throughout the nineteenth century. The first wave of increasing English immigration began in the late 1820s and was sustained by unrest in the United Kingdom until it peaked in 1842 and declined slightly for nearly a decade. Most of these were small farmers and tenant farmers from depressed areas in rural counties in southern and western England and urban laborers who fled from the depressions and from the social and industrial changes of the late 1820s-1840s. While some English immigrants were drawn by dreams of creating model utopian societies in America, most others were attracted by the lure of new lands, textile factories, railroads, and the expansion of mining.

A number of English settlers moved to United States from Australia in 1850s (then a British political territory), when California Gold Rush boomed; these included the so-called "Sydney Ducks" (see Australian Americans).

During the last years of 1860s, annual English immigration increased to over 60,000 and continued to rise to over 75,000 per year in 1872, before experiencing a decline. The final and most sustained wave of immigration began in 1879 and lasted until the depression of 1893. During this period English annual immigration averaged more than 82,000, with peaks in 1882 and 1888 and did not drop significantly until the financial panic of 1893.^[39] The building of America's transcontinental railroads, the settlement of the great plains, and industrialization attracted skilled and professional emigrants from England. Also, cheaper steamship fares enabled unskilled urban workers to come to America, and unskilled and semiskilled laborers, miners, and building trades workers made up the majority of these new English immigrants. While most settled in America, a number of skilled craftsmen remained itinerant, returning to England after a season or two of work.^{[citation needed]} Groups of English immigrants came to America as missionaries for the Salvation Army and to work with the activities of the Evangelical and LDS Churches.

The depression of 1893 sharply decreased English emigration to the United States, and it stayed low for much of the twentieth century. This decline reversed itself in the decade of World War II when over 100,000 English (18 percent of all European immigrants) came from England. In this group was a large contingent of war brides who came between 1945 and 1948. In these years four women emigrated from England for every man.^[39] In the 1950s, English immigration increased to over 150,000.and rose to 170,000 in the 1960s.^[41] While differences developed, it is not surprising that English immigrants had little difficulty in assimilating to American life. The American resentment against the policies of the British government^{[citation needed]}as rarely transferred to English settlers who came to America in the first decades of the nineteenth century.

Throughout American history, English immigrants and their descendants have been prominent in every level of government and in every aspect of American life. Eight of the first ten American presidents and more than that proportion of the 42 presidents, as well as the majority of sitting congressmen and congresswomen, are descended from English ancestors. The descendants of English expatriates are so numerous and so well integrated in American life that it is impossible to identify all of them. While they are the third largest ethnic nationality self reported in the 1990 census, they retain such a pervasive representation at every level of national and state government that, on any list of American senators, Supreme Court judges, governors, or legislators, they would constitute a plurality if not an outright majority.^[42] Today it is estimated that over 80 million Americans are of English ancestry.^{[citation needed]}

Political involvement[link]

Colonial period[link]

"The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles", by Capt. John Smith

John Trumbull's famous painting, Declaration of Independence. Two Red Ensigns, one British flag, and one English flag can be seen upon the wall.

.

As the earliest colonists of the United States, settlers from England and their descendants often held positions of power and made or helped make laws,^[43] often because many had been involved in government back in England.^[44] In the original 13 colonies, most laws contained elements found in the English common law system.^[45]

The Founding Fathers[link]

The lineage of most of the Founding Fathers was English. Such persons include Samuel Adams.^[46] Others signatories of the Declaration of Independence, such as Robert Morris were English born.^[47] Of the "Committee of Five" (the group delegated to draft the Declaration of Independence), John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin ^[48] of Pennsylvania, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, and Roger Sherman of Connecticut had English roots. The United States Declaration of Independence was written primarily by Thomas Jefferson.