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English people

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This article is about the English as an ethnic group. For information on the population of England, see demographics of England.
English
File:English-people.JPG
Regions with significant populations
United Kingdom[1]:
   45,265,093

United States[2]:
   24,515,138
Australia[3]:
   6.4 million
Canada[4]:
   5,978,875
South Africa[5]:
   1,500,000 (est.)

New Zealand[6]:
   281,895
Languages
English
Religion
Christianity, atheist[7], agnostic, other[8]
Related ethnic groups
Dutch, Flemings, Frisians, Danes, Germans; other Germanic peoples; Welsh, Scots, Irish

The English are an ethnic group generally associated with England and the English language. Most English people nowadays live in England, the largest division of the United Kingdom.

History

The English as an ethnic group can trace their heritage back to the Anglo-Saxons (or Old English), who between the 5th and 7th centuries, after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire, came to occupy most of lowland Britain (although a lack of documentation from the "Dark Ages" (Early Middle Ages) means few individuals can prove such descent). The name of the area known as England derives from this settlement. The tribes participating in this conquest of Britain included the Angles, the Jutes, the Saxons and the Frisians.

At one time it was widely believed that the Anglo-Saxons supplanted the native British populations. Genetic studies have shed light on the matter. One suggests the Anglo-Saxons may have established political and cultural dominance over the Romano-British natives and intermarried with them.

Y chromosome analysis of people from the British Isles, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Friesland and the Basque Country has revealed that some areas of England have a higher Germanic (Danish/North German/Frisian) component in the male line of descent than others. Germanic Y chromosomes are at their highest concentrations in York and Norfolk, here the Germanic male sex chromosome occurs in about 60% of men, with indigenous Y chromosomes comprising about 40%. The research cannot distinguish between Danish (the presumed source of Danish-Viking settlers to East and Northern England), North German (Schleswig-Holstein, modern era) and Frisian (Anglo-Saxon) Y chromosomes. The study concludes these data are consistent with the presence of some indigenous component in all British regions[9]. It should be noted that the work cannot make reference to the extent of settlement by Anglo-Saxon/Danish-Viking women. It is therefore the case that even in places like York, the total genetic contribution of these peoples may only represent 30% of the whole (if few or no women settled). Conversely the total contribution to the gene pool by these peoples would be greater than 60% if there were more women settlers than men.

A further settlement of Danes occurred during the 9th century in northern and eastern England.

People from many English regions generally further from the south and east, notably the Cornish and the Cumbrians have a noticeably less diluted connection to the pre-Anglo-Saxon ancient Britons; As a result of this, some people from various regions of England place that regional identity first. For example, many Cornish claim not to be English but Cornish.

A further influence on the English language is from Scandinavian culture, particularly in the north of England. This is most pronounced in York, formerly the Danish settlement of Jorvik. These groups had a noticeable impact on the English language, for example the modern meaning of the word dream is of Scandinavian origin. Additionally place names that include thwaite and by are Scandinavian in origin.

England in AD 600 after the Saxon invasion

The Anglo-Saxons established several kingdoms, commonly referred to as the Heptarchy. These were united in the early 9th century under the overlordship of Wessex, forming what would eventually become the modern nation-state of England.

These kingdoms were then subjected to a series of raids, conquest and settlement by Vikings originating from Denmark from the 9th century onwards. The Treaty of Wedmore gave the Danes dominion over territory north and east of a line between London and Chester called the Danelaw and represented the beginning of a period of acceptance and assimilation of the Danes.

Most notably, this period saw the rise of Alfred the Great, the only king in English history to receive 'the great' appended to his name. Alfred was king of the region of Wessex which effectively held off the Danish conquest of what would later become England. Wessex grew from a relatively small kingdom in the South West to the complete annexing of all remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms not in the Danelaw.

The Norman Conquest of 1066 brought English and Danish rule to an end, and began a diminished period, both culturally and socially for the native inhabitants. The new Norman French elite began a scorched earth policy against the rebellious Anglo-Danish population north of the Humber during the winter of 1069-70, which became known as The Harrying of the North. The English existed as a subject class for about 300 years with the aristocracy speaking French until a full assimilation was made by the time of Chaucer, in the late 1300s. By this time a large number of French words had been added to the English language.

During Britain's centuries as a major colonial power, people migrated from all over Britain's sphere of influence to England, leaving a small, but noticeable mark on English culture.

Culture

Contribution to humanity

The English have played a significant role in the development of the arts and sciences. Prominent individuals have included the scientists and inventors Isaac Newton, Francis Crick, Abraham Darby, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Frank Whittle and Tim Berners-Lee; the poet and playwright William Shakespeare, the novelists Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and George Orwell, the composer Gustav Holst, and the explorer James Cook (for a complete list of famous English people see List of English people). English philosophers include Francis Bacon, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Paine, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Bertrand Russell, Michael Oakeshott and Roger Scruton.

Thanks to the legacy of the British Empire, the English language is now the world's unofficial lingua franca, while English common law is also the foundation of legal systems throughout the English speaking countries of the world.

Language

English people traditionally speak the English language, a member of the West Germanic language family. The only other language traditionally spoken is Cornish, a Celtic language originating in Cornwall spoken by about 3500 people. More recently immigrants from across the globe have brought other languages to England which are mainly used privately as a home language, in religion or for traditional purposes. Such languages are extremely numerous and include those from the Commonwealth of Nations as well as outside it.

Religion

Ever since the break with the Roman Catholic Church in the sixteenth century, the English have been predominantly a Protestant people. Today, most English people practising organized religion are affiliated to the Church of England or other Christian denominations such as Roman Catholicism and Methodism. At the 2001 Census, a little over 37 million people in England & Wales professed themselves to be Christian.

Irish immigration during the nineteenth and twentieth century enlarged the Roman Catholic minority.

Jewish immigration since the seventeenth century means that there is a relatively assimilated Jewish English minority mostly in urban areas. 252,000 Jews were recorded in England & Wales in the 2001 Census; however this represents a decline of about 50% over the previous 50 years, caused by emigration and intermarriage, and the long-term future of the community is a matter of some concern to community leaders.

The gradual assimilation of migrants from India and Pakistan since the 1950s means that there is a growing group of people who are culturally English and practise Islam (818,000), Hinduism (467,000), or Sikhism (301,000). +

The 2001 census also revealed that 7,171,332 (15%) of the population of England claim no religion.

Sport

England, like the other nations of the United Kingdom, competes as a separate nation in many international sporting events. The English Football, Cricket and Rugby teams have contributed to an increasing sense of English identity. Supporters today (2006) carry the St George's Cross whereas twenty years ago only the British Union Jack would be seen.

Symbols

File:England flag.svg
English flag

The English flag is a red cross on a white background, commonly called the St George's Cross adopted after the crusades. Saint George, famed as a dragon-slayer, is also the patron saint of England. The three golden lions or leopards on a red background was the banner of the kings of England derived from their status as Duke of Normandy and is now used to represent the English national football team and the English national cricket team. The Tudor rose and the English oak are also English symbols. "God Save The Queen" is widely regarded as England's unofficial national anthem; however, other songs are sometimes used, including "Land of hope and glory" (used as England's anthem in the Commonwealth Games), "Jerusalem" and "I Vow to Thee, My Country."

Identity

England and Wales were united in the Acts of Union in 1536 and 1543, in 1707 England and Wales formed a union with Scotland, and in 1800 Ireland was joined to the existing union to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, although most of Ireland achieved independence in 1922 as the Irish Free State. A new 'British' identity was developed through the nineteenth century, to some extent overlaying regional identities. The English, along with the other peoples of the British Isles found their old identities undermined in favour of a new British national identity. The 1990s saw the beginning of a gradual reclamation and reformation of English identity. The political developments that led to the establishment of a Northern Ireland assembly were followed by referanda that enacted the Welsh assembly and the Scottish Parliamnet. Partly in response to devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and the rise in general of nationalism in the Celtic fringe some English people now question what it is to be English and its relationship with being British. Some English nationalist parties have been created, their following however remains small, but are growing as many English people are beginning to resent their loss of identity. see English nationalism.

References

  1. ^ The CIA World Factbook reports that in the 2001 UK census 92.1% of the UK population were in the White ethnic group, and that 83.6% of this group are in the English ethnic group. The UK Office for National Statistics[10] reports a total population in the UK census of 58,789,194. A quick calculation shows this is equivalent to 45,265,093 people in the English ethnic group. However this number may not represent self-defined ethnic group. The number who described their ethnic group as English in the 2001 UK census has not been published by the Office for National Statistics.
  2. ^ The 2000 US census shows 24,515,138 persons claiming English ancestry. This figure is likely to be an underestimate of the true number with English ancestry as some people will not have been aware of their English ancestry, or will have chosen not to mention it. The US census also contains a separate option of 'British' ancestry, thereby also contributing to the underestimation of the number of people in USA with English ancestry. According to EuroAmericans.net the greatest population in a single state was 2,521,355 in California, and the highest percentage was 29.0% in Utah.
  3. ^ The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports 6,358,880 people of English ancestry in the 2001 Census. Up to two ancestries could be chosen. Recent increases in the number who identify as Australian suggest that this number is an underestimate of the true number with English ancestry. [11].
  4. ^ 2001 Canadian Census gives 1,479,520 respondents stating their ethnic origin as English as a single response, and 4,499,355 including multiple responses, giving a combined total of 5,978,875.
  5. ^ A 1996 study of South Africa by the US Library of Congress reports that roughly two-thirds of South Africa's 2 million English speakers can trace their ancestry to England, Scotland, Wales, or Ireland.
  6. ^ The 2001 New Zealand census reports 34,074 people stating they belong to the English ethnic group. The 1996 census, which used a slightly different question[12], reported 281,895 people belonging to the English ethnic group.
  7. ^ Religion in Britain, Vexen Crabtree, (2000-2003).
  8. ^ Religion In Britain, National Statistics, (2001).
  9. ^ A Y Chromosome Census of the British Isles; Cristian Capelli, Nicola Redhead, Julia K. Abernethy, Fiona Gratrix, James F. Wilson, Torolf Moen, Tor Hervig, Martin Richards, Michael P. H. Stumpf, Peter A. Underhill, Paul Bradshaw, Alom Shaha, Mark G. Thomas, Neal Bradman, and David B. Goldstein Current Biology, Volume 13, Issue 11, Pages 979-984 (2003). Retrieved 6 December 2005.

See also

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