View source for Anglo-Americans

{{Short description|Demographic group in Anglo-America}}
{{distinguish|British Americans|English Americans|Old Stock Americans|Old Stock Canadians|English Canadians}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Anglo-Americans
| image            = [[File:Anglo America (centered orthographic projection).svg|250px]]
| region1          = {{flagcountry|United States}}
| pop1             = 271,528,353 (2019)
| ref1             = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?q=B16005|title=B16005 Nativity by Language Spoken at Home by Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over Universe: Population 5 years and over 2019 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates|date=July 1, 2019|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]]|access-date=December 13, 2021|quote=Note: The number refers to those who speak English alone consisting of 264,200,071 native born and 7,328,282 foreign born Americans|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213004648/https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/ACS/17_1YR/B16005|archive-date=February 13, 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| region2          = {{flagcountry|Canada}}
| pop2             = 22,162,865 (2016)
| ref2             = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=31&Geo=00 |title=Language Highlight Tables, 2016 Census |publisher=Statcan.ca |date=2018-03-07}}</ref>
| langs            = [[English language|English]]
| religions        = Traditionally [[Christianity]]
}}

'''Anglo-Americans''' are a demographic group in [[Anglo-America]]. It typically refers to the predominantly European-descent nations and ethnic groups in the [[Americas]] that speak English as a native language, making up the majority of people in the world who speak [[English language|English]] as a [[first language]].

== Usage ==
The term is ambiguous and used in several different ways. While it is primarily used to refer to people of [[England|English]] ancestry, it (along with terms like ''[[Anglo]]'', ''Anglic'', ''[[English-speaking world|Anglophone]]'', and ''Anglophonic'') is also used to denote all people of British or Northwestern European ancestry.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170829162908/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/anglo Oxford English Dictionary: "Anglo"] ''North American A white English-speaking person of British or northern European origin, in particular (in the US) as distinct from a Hispanic American or (in Canada) as distinct from a French-speaker.''</ref> It can include all people of Northwestern European ethnic origin who speak English as a mother tongue and their descendants in the New World.<ref name="auto">Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief ''Webster's Tenth New Collegiate Dictionary'' Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.:1994--Merriam-Webster See original definition (definition #1) of ''Anglo'' in English: It is defined as a synonym for ''Anglo-American''--Page 86</ref><ref name="dictionary.com">{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Anglo | title = Anglo – Definitions from Dictionary.com; American Heritage Dictionary | access-date = 2008-03-29 | quote = Usage Note: In contemporary American usage, Anglo is used primarily in direct contrast to Hispanic or Latino. In this context it is not limited to persons of English or even British descent, but can be generally applied to any [[non-Hispanic white]] person, making mother tongue (in this case English) the primary factor. Thus in parts of the United States such as the [[Southwest United States]] with large Hispanic populations, an American of Polish, Irish, or German heritage might be termed an Anglo just as readily as a person of English descent. However, in parts of the country where the Hispanic community is smaller or nonexistent, or in areas where ethnic distinctions among European groups remain strong, Anglo has little currency as a catch-all term for non-Hispanic whites. Anglo is also used in non-Hispanic contexts. In Canada, where its usage dates at least to 1800, the distinction is between persons of English and French descent. And in American historical contexts Anglo is apt to be used more strictly to refer to persons of English heritage, as in this passage describing the politics of nation-building in pre-Revolutionary America: "The 'unity' of the American people derived ... from the ability and willingness of an Anglo elite to stamp its image on other peoples coming to this country" (Benjamin Schwarz).|publisher=Lexico Publishing Group, LLC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315013806/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Anglo|archive-date=15 March 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== In the American Southwest ===
{{See also|Texians}}
In states such as [[Texas]], [[New Mexico]], [[Louisiana]], and [[California]]; former colonies of [[New Spain|Spain]] and [[New France|France]], Anglo-American settlers developed a cohesive identity centered around their [[Protestantism]], [[English language]], and [[British colonization of the Americas|British colonial heritage]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texas 1821-1836 < Anglo-American colonization in Texas - Kjetil Ersdal < 1801-1900 < Essays < American History From Revolution To Reconstruction and beyond |url=https://www.let.rug.nl/usa/essays/1801-1900/anglo-american-colonization-in-texas/texas-1821-1836.php |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=www.let.rug.nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=Anglo-American Colonization in Mexican Texas (1821-1835) |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/anglo-american-colonization |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Anglo-Americans Settle in Louisiana |url=https://greatriverroadmuseum.org/anglo-americans#:~:text=The%20term%20%E2%80%9CAnglo-American%E2%80%9D,those%20from%20the%20United%20States. |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=The Great River Road Museum |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite the overwhelming majority of Anglo settlers being American Protestants of [[Old Stock Americans|colonial immigrant ancestry]], there were also English, [[French-Canadian Americans|French-Canadian]], [[Stagger's Point, Texas|Irish]], German, Jewish, [[Melungeon]] and even Catholic settlers as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Texas Jewish History |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/texas-jewish-history |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Melungeon Texans. |url=http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPersonalities/Melungeon-Texans.htm |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=www.texasescapes.com}}</ref> Many Anglos married into the families of [[Spaniards|Spanish]], [[French people|French]], and [[Mexicans|Mexican]] elites.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Digital History |url=https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=557 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240817143232/http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=3&psid=557 |archive-date=2024-08-17 |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=www.digitalhistory.uh.edu}}</ref>

An early expression of Anglo-American nationalism occurred during the [[Texas Revolution]], when [[Republic of Texas|revolutionaries]] created flags which included the [[Union Jack|British Union Jack]], [[George Washington]], and elements of the [[Flag of the United States|American flag]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historic Flags of the Texas State Library and Archives - Austin National Flag {{!}} Texas State Library |url=https://www.tsl.texas.gov/historicflags/02872AustinNational.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250308175952/https://www.tsl.texas.gov/historicflags/02872AustinNational.html |archive-date=2025-03-08 |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=www.tsl.texas.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Association |first=Texas State Historical |title=The History of Texas Flags: From Six Flags Over Texas to the Lone Star Flag |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/flags-of-texas |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=Texas State Historical Association |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-02 |title=Flags of the Texas Revolution {{!}} Texas Historical Commission |url=https://thc.texas.gov/blog/flags-texas-revolution |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=thc.texas.gov |language=en}}</ref>

== Culture ==
The term implies a relationship between the [[United States]] and the [[United Kingdom]] (specifically [[England]]), or the two countries' shared language, English, and/or cultural heritage. In this context the term may refer to an [[English American]], a person from the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England, a person from the United States who speaks English as their first language (see [[American English]]), a collective term referring to those countries that have similar legal systems based on [[common law]], [[United Kingdom–United States relations|relations]] between the United Kingdom and United States, or [[Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules]], a national cataloging code.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="dictionary.com" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Anglo-American |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/anglo-american |website=encyclopedia.com |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref>

The term is also used, less frequently, to denote a connection between English people (or the English language) and the Western Hemisphere as a whole. In this context, the term can mean a person from the Americas whose ancestry originates from any English speaking country (see [[British diaspora]]) or a person from the Americas who has an English name  and speaks English as their first language (see [[English-speaking world]] and [[Languages of the Americas]]), or a person from [[Anglo-America]].

== Adjective ==
The adjective Anglo-American is used in the following ways:
* to denote the cultural sphere shared by the [[United Kingdom]], the [[United States]] and [[English Canada]]. For example, "Anglo-American culture is different from French culture." Political leaders including [[Winston Churchill]], [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] and [[Ronald Reagan]] have used the term to discuss the "[[Special Relationship]]" between Britain and America.
* to describe relations between Britain and the United States. For example, "[[United Kingdom–United States relations|Anglo-American relations]] became more relaxed after the [[War of 1812]]."

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Anglosphere]]
* [[English-speaking world]]
* [[British Americans]]
* [[English Americans]]
* [[British Canadians]]
* [[English Canadians]]

{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Wiktionary|Anglo-Americans}}
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{British diaspora}}
{{People of Canada}}
{{European Americans}}
{{Demographics of the United States}}

[[Category:American people of English descent| ]]
[[Category:Canadian people of English descent|Canadian people of English descent]]
[[Category:English diaspora in the United States| ]]
[[Category:English-American history| ]]
[[Category:English diaspora in Canada| ]]
[[Category:European diaspora in the United States]]
[[Category:European diaspora in Canada]]
[[Category:Jamaican people of British descent]]
[[Category:Trinidad and Tobago people of British descent]]
[[Category:Guyanese people of British descent]]