[Gremlinn]

Inspired by the following:

But Anglo-Americans are British.

It isn't every day that I see Europeans claiming their colonials like this. I would like to gauge Anglo-American opinions on the subject.

This is a public poll.

ANGLO-AMERICANS only, please answer the poll with a simple "yes" or "no".

Then, explain in a post, what makes you Anglo-American, and how did you decide whether or not you were British.

Thanks.

[quedry36]

isn't british a sort of meta-identity connected with living in britain?
how could americans be british? lol

[rvadipoldkov]

I haven't voted yet. I have never thought of it really and my first reaction was to vote 'no' but I decided to see who exactly qualified as British. Wikipedia says...

British people are citizens or natives of the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies, British overseas territories, and their descendants. Well I am descended from people from the British Isles and from people who lived in the colonies in America before independence. I'm not sure I guess.

[18holesin]

Well I am descended from people from the British Isles and from people who lived in the colonies in America before independence. I'm not sure I guess.

Yes, me too. My paternal side definitely falls into those categories. That seems like a very open-ended definition though. Wouldn't that encompass everyone in, for example, Hong Kong and India?

Here's a Wiki with additional info on British citizenship, including the requirements to be a British Overseas Territory citizen, or a Commonwealth citizen. US citizens don't appear to qualify for any of these special types of citizenship. So legally we aren't British, apparently. Culturally, ancestrally?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nationality_law

[sharpyure]

To clarify my position:

Australians, Kiwis, Canadians and Anglo-Americans are British.

None of them are English, Welsh or Scottish though, simply British.
Of course legally they are not.

They are British in the same way that Austrians are Germans, Taiwanese are Chinese or North/South Koreans are Koreans.
There is a political divide, but the people and culture are essentially the same, albeit with some differences (but there are differences within Britain itself).

[zbckFNlW]

Well so much for people following instructions, LOL. The only people who voted so far, didn't explain why they are classified as Anglo-Americans, nor did they explain why they are or are not British.

I think GeistFaust is half Scot-Irish-American and half German so may consider himself Anglo-American but identifies as German, not British.

Bilwi, isn't she supposed to be half Dutch from Aruba and half Colombian, born in NYC and raised in Miami, spends most of her time arguing about the definition of Latin American with Mexicans and Brazilians... Bilwi do you consider yourself an Anglo-American? Do you have any British Isles or multi-generational US ancestry at all? Wouldn't you be a Dutch-American or a Colombian-American? I don't get why you voted. Seems like a US citizen with parents from Jamaica or Hong Kong would be more Anglo-American than you.

---------- Post added 2012-06-26 at 04:28 ----------

To clarify my position:

Australians, Kiwis, Canadians and Anglo-Americans are British.

None of them are English, Welsh or Scottish though, simply British.
Of course legally they are not.

They are British in the same way that Austrians are Germans, Taiwanese are Chinese or North/South Koreans are Koreans.
There is a political divide, but the people and culture are essentially the same, albeit with some differences (but there are differences within Britain itself).

What about French-Canadians, or an Anglo-Canadian with mixed Native American ancestry? What about an Anglo-American with a Polish surname, or an Aussie with partial Greek ancestry, or aboriginal ancestry? I'm trying to get a read on just how similar a person needs to be, culturally or ancestrally, to be considered an offshore British person, by a "real" Brit.

[Psymoussy]

What about French-Canadians, or an Anglo-Canadian with mixed Native American ancestry? What about an Anglo-American with a Polish surname, or an Aussie with partial Greek ancestry, or aboriginal ancestry? I'm trying to get a read on just how similar a person needs to be, culturally or ancestrally, to be considered an offshore British person, by a "real" Brit.

There isn't a fixed line where you are or aren't British (or any other ethnicity).
Is an Englishman with a Polish name or partial Greek Ancestry British?

[VovTortki]

The bulk of my ancestry is from different parts of the British Isles and what non-British ancestry that I know of is from the northwestern area of France (Brittany, Normandy), which has long-established historical ties to Britain.

---------- Post added 2012-06-26 at 08:36 ----------

Is an Englishman with a Polish name or partial Greek Ancestry British?

In this case it's full in the appropriate box.

British ethnicity. [ ]
British citizen. [x]

[detskpit]

Ok, I voted 'No'.

I consider myself Anglo-American because I am a multi-generational American who speaks English and has a significant amount of British Isles ancestry.

English American, American person of English heritage, origin, or background

"Anglo-American," colloquial term for an English-speaking American (as opposed to Spanish-speaking or Hispanic Americans) I acknowledge that I have British ancestry, around 50%, speak the English language, and have many cultural influences from British culture. If I was a citizen of the British Commonwealth, I would probably consider myself British. My paternal 6th great grandfather who was a 3rd or 4th generation Englishman and fought as a British loyalist in the Revolution, he was British. However, he lost, and that was 230+ years ago. Anglo-Saxons aren't German, Anglo-Normans aren't French, Mexicans aren't Spanish, and I'm not British.

[PrettyFifa12]

Isn't Anglo-American synonymous with English-American? The English are a people of Britain just like the Scots and the Welsh. Anglo-Americans clearly aren't British in the sense of a resident of Britain, though. Anglo-Americans are somewhat distinct from the English of Britain on a cultural, linguistic and political level.

[TRASIAOREXOLA]

Isn't Anglo-American synonymous with English-American? The English are a people of Britain just like the Scots and the Welsh. Anglo-Americans clearly aren't British in the sense of a resident of Britain, though. Anglo-Americans are somewhat distinct from the English of Britain on a cultural, linguistic and political level.

But on a genetical level they are very similar. If a an average British person spoke with an American accent, you'd assume they are a regular WASP.

[ëàìèíàò]

According to what i have read, many white americans have german ancestry, maybe there are more white americans with german ancestry that enlish.

[imictiorume]

According to what i have read, many white americans have german ancestry, maybe there are more white americans with german ancestry that enlish.

If you were born in England with some German ancestry that wouldn't rule you out of being British.
Unless they had a German surname, someone with a German grandparent in England would be almost unidentifiable unless they told you.
There isn't any reason to feel any differently to people born outside of England or Britain.

Genetics is only one part of it anyway. Asian immigrants born in England can be considered British (if they have assimilated into our culture).

[86GlSqSK]

Ok just voted based in my opinion of the matter im not white american lol!..

[Drugmachine]

There's is Celtic Britons in my gene pool yes, but I am American. There are Spanish genes in my pool too, I am not Spanish either, nor Swedish, not even really Amerindian either. I'm just sorta . . . here.

[truportodfa]

If you were born in England with some German ancestry that wouldn't rule you out of being British.
Unless they had a German surname, someone with a German grandparent in England would be almost unidentifiable unless they told you.
There isn't any reason to feel any differently to people born outside of England or Britain.

Genetics is only one part of it anyway. Asian immigrants born in England can be considered British (if they have assimilated into our culture).

Mmm...interesting point. So how much would the metrics culture and lineage be weighted when creating the mix: British. Though is American culture close enough to British culture that Anglo-Americans (by ancestry) can be called British, since they all ready qualify by parent hood. Or have I simplified it far to much.

[citalopram]

Ok, I voted 'No'.

I consider myself Anglo-American because I am a multi-generational American who speaks English and has a significant amount of British Isles ancestry.

Aren't you part Japanese?

---------- Post added 2012-06-26 at 13:26 ----------

Anglo-Americans usually cluster with Irish Americans in the US. Secondly, German Americans.

[brandiweb]

Mmm...interesting point. So how much would the metrics culture and lineage be weighted when creating the mix: British. Though is American culture close enough to British culture that Anglo-Americans (by ancestry) can be called British, since they all ready qualify by parent hood. Or have I simplified it far to much.

There isn't some sort of cutoff point or test for being British.
It's all subjective anyway.

From the poll responses, it seems that Anglo-Americans vote yes and everyone else says no.

[dumadegg]

I voted yes.
My nationality/citizenship/heritage is American. But my ethnic background comes from my pre-USA ancestors. My pre-USA ancestry is English, Czechoslovakian (Czech and Slovak), Welsh, Scottish, German, French (including Belgian), distant Swiss, and Dutch (Netherlands/North Holland). So I am a blend of all of these. I'm 1/4 Czechoslovakian, and the other 75% is a blend of mostly British Isles, with Dutch and German and French.

I'm not a British citizen but I am a direct descendant.
Three of my my grandparents had British ancestry, most is on my mother's side. Most came over in during the Colonial years, but my most recent was from the late 1800s. I have Welsh on my mother's side but not on my father's side. I have English and Scottish thru both my mother and father, but mostly my mom.
Three of my grandparents had German ancestry, most is on my father's side.
If either of my two Czechoslovakian Great Grandparents had German ancestry, then that would give me German ancestry thru all four grandparents. They did name three of their sons with German first names, but that's not conclusive.
One grandparent had Dutch ancestry (blended with English and French and German).
I have small amounts of French/Belgian on my father's side and French/Swiss on my mother's side and additional distant French (Aquitaine and Normandy) on my mother's side. And further back in time there is more stuff from various places in Europe.

On my mother's side, family groups intermarried (cousins or distant cousins) so that is why that side is more solidly English (Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina), and many were already cousins to each other before they left England. While on my father's side (New York and New Jersey. New Netherlands Colony) various ethnic groups of all Protestant denominations married each other (Dutch, French, German, Scottish, English. Since I'm matching people from Finland at 23andme maybe I have some unknown ancestry from the New Sweden Colony too, which bordered the New Netherlands Colony). My Czechoslovakian-American grandfather was born and raised Catholic (New Jersey, USA) but became a Protestant to marry my grandmother.

[b7RKli4l]

Aren't you part Japanese?

Yes, my maternal grandmother was from Japan, and my maternal grandfather was a German Catholic with German and Prussian immigrant ancestors in the 1800's. He brought my grandmother from Japan where he was stationed during post-WW2 occupation.

My father was primarily of English, Irish, and Welsh ancestry from colonial settlers in the 1600's and 1700's.

Thus I am around 50% British Isles ancestry.