English people

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English people

Regions with significant populations
Majority Populations United Kingdom 37,600,000 Australia 7,200,000 Minority Populations United States 25,000,000 Canada 6,600,000
Languages
English
Religion
Christianity

The English people are a West Germanic ethnic group native to England in the United Kingdom. The terms Anglo- and Anglo-Saxon have also been used to refer to English people, or of anything relating to English culture.

The English people make up one of the ethnic groups that comprise of the British nationality. As part of the larger British nationality, the English conquered one of the largest empires in all of history. Subsequently, English people and culture have formed the basis and backbones for countries that once comprised of their territories, including the United States, Canada and Australia. In the United States, the arrival of English colonists is celebrated in the popular national holiday known as Thanksgiving, although Canada celebrates a similar feast.

As a result of this cultural adaptation, English people and culture is considered one of the great civilizations of the world, that has had a profound influence around the globe, where English is the national language of many countries and territories that were once part of the British Empire or the United States. It is considered a culture of globalization. 

In addition, English people had many of the world's greatest literary figures, musicians, scientists, military leaders and globally influential politicians. Most of the modern-day Anglosphere continues to be globally influential nations today, with the United States (although a very multi-ethnic and multi-racial nation), is the world's foremost superpower 

English people comprise of the majority of Australia's population, and despite providing the founding cultures for the United States and Canada, comprise as the second-largest of those two nations, second to Germans.

History, Origin and Etymology

Early History

Like many countries in western Europe, the island known as Great Britain had been part of the Roman Empire. The island was known as Britannia analogous to the names of other Roman territories. Such as Hispania which refers to the ancient Roman territory in the Iberian Peninsula consisting of both Spain and Portugal. British people descended from three groups of people, the Angles, Saxons and the Celts. These were all Germanic tribes, Vikings had also existed in the area. The Angles and Saxons drove the Celts back to the northern part of what is now the United Kingdom. The Anglo-Saxon language, would eventually develop into the language we come to know today as English. During the Medieval Ages, Great Britain would develop into several Germanic and Celtic empires. King Arthur is a popular character in British legend. According to British legend, King Arthur defended the empire from the Saxons. In the 1500s, the British would begin to expand its territories throughout the entire world. Due to seafaring skills, the British would conquer one of the overseas largest empires ever. The slogan "The sun never sets in the British Empire" was often used due to the mass size of the empire. The British Empire surpassed the Spanish Empire, another very large overseas empire.

British Empire

The vast empire was formed through many ways, that did not always include conquest. It included a large number of protectorates. Like the Spaniards, the British shared a mutual drive to exploit resources, find gold and convert native peoples to Anglican Christianity (Catholicism for Spain).

North America

In 1584, English explorer Walter Raleigh picked up from here his half brother Humphrey Gilbert's expedition failed. He eventually found the Ranaoake colony in the modern-day state of Virginia.

In 1606, King James I of England chartered a voyage to North America, and was funded by the Virginia Company of London. The expedition involved three ships, the Godspeed, Susan Constant and Discovery, headed by Captain Christopher Newport. In 1607, the settlers reached Jamestown, Virginia - where they gave it its namesake, after King James I.

In 1620, another voyage took place, one that set out for the Netherlands. However, since the settler motives were dominated by separatist, and conservative Christian ideals, their exposure of other faiths led them to set out for the New World to establish their colonies, free of what they deemed "worldliness". They set out to settles north of Jamestown, but instead, changed course and ended up near Plymouth Rock, which was outside the Virginia Company's jurisdiction. Therefore, William Brewster, a passenger of the Mayflower (the ship used in the expedition), composed the Mayflower Compact, which organized a system of rules and self-government, since Cape Cod was not under any government's rule.

In 1632, Cecil Calvert, the 2nd Baron of Baltimore founded the Province of Maryland, and soon, it became a haven for English Catholics. In 1670, a private expendition had the modern-day city of Charleston, South Carolina, named after King Charles II, settled.

Language

The English language itself is a descandant of the Anglo-Saxon l

Ancient English (Anglo-Saxon)

anguage, the language that the peoples in what is now the United Kingdom were speaking. The English language is part of the western Germanic languages. English poetry and literature is one of the most widely discussed and studies topics in western culture. English is spoken just about in every world major country, and has been declared the de facto worldwide lingua franca. English is the de facto language in the United States, although the government has no recorded official federal language. English is an official language in Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Belize, Pakistan, East Timor and India. Much more other countries use English as an international lingua franca. The countries listed simply record English as an official language according to their governments. The English spoken in the United States contains innumerable amounts of Italic Romance influence. British English retains more of its Germanic and Anglo-Saxon properties. The development of American English coincided with western eexpansion where the American national identity developed. The English spoken in Australia contains heavy slang, to the extent where it resembles another language. The English spoken in India, Pakistan and Belize is based off of British English, while other countries like the Philippines and East Timor use American English.

Religion and Architecture

The Lincoln Cathedral is considered the "first skyscraper" surpassing the Giza Pyramids

Historically, the English people were Roman Catholic, as the Anglo-Saxons were highly aligned with the Roman Catholic Church. After the Reformation, the role of Christianity in the Anglosphere took a drastic change in which an new breed of Christian sections were born.

Within the United Kingdom, the English are followers of the Anglican Church, specifically the Church of England, one of the oldest denominations in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the majority are followers of Protestantism, specifically Baptist. However, Baptists do not typically refer to themselves as such, and only refer to themselves as "Christian". However, the various Baptist groups in the Southern United States are collectively part of a larger religious denomination known as the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Baptist group in the United States if treated as a single denomination.

In Australia, English Australians are roughly split between Anglican and Roman Catholic, as Roman Catholicism is Australia's largest Christian denomination. In Canada, English Canadians also show a similar trend, being either Protestant or Roman Catholic.

With the rise of Atheism, especially in Europe, paradoxically the abode of Western Christianity, many English people are also non-religious, Atheist and/or Agnostic. Many of the most well-known Atheists, such as Christopher Hitchens.

Cuisine

Within the United Kingdom

Throughout history, British cusine has been labled as one of the most dull cuisines. But recently, that has changed as British cuisine has now become a rather world famous cuisine. British cuisine consists of local and high quality

Fish and chips

ingredients. Sunday roast is an English dish, which is any roasted meats such as chicken, beef or lamb and served with mashed or boiled potatoes as a side. Due to America's history as a British colony, this dish has also become part of American cuisine. In fact, British cuisine serves as the main stock for American cuisine. Tea is a popular beverage in England. Although tea is no longer drunken in a formal manner as people have stereotyped it to be. Sausages and eggs are part of a typical British breakfast, this too has influenced American cuisine and typical with American families as well. Fish and chips are one of the most popular take-out British cuisines. This is one England's most identified dishes. Chips is the British English word for french fries, not the typical potato chips eaten from a bag. Cod, haddock and huss are popular fishes used in British cooking. Meat pies are a common dessert in British cuisine. Various pastries and meats can be used to make English meat pies. Sandwiches are also said to have derived from English-British cuisine. The culinary term sandwhich was said to have derived from John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwhich who commonly ate meat stuffed between pieces of bread.

Within the United States

In the United States, the majority of Ango-American culture is rooted in the southern regions. Southern American cuisine adopts heavily from French, Native American and African-American culinary traditions. Southern American cuisine is also heavily known for barbeque, being the haven of American barbeque cuisine. A popular type of Southern American delicacy is a hog roast, in which an entire pig is roasted, known in Southern slang as pig pickin'.

Notable English people

William Shakespeare	English writer and playright, who is considered the greatest writer in the English language,

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