Who are the British?

You may have heard of the British Empire, the stereotype of crooked teeth and the abolishment of slavery. Almost everyone has heard of the British and many, both white and black are part British themselves but who are the British? What defines them as an ethnic group?







I.) Defining "British"
II.) Creating an Empire
III.) Abolishing slavery
IV.) Where the British live today

I.) Defining "British"

The British people are defined as those with ancestors in the British Isles in north-western Europe. Ireland and Britannia (also called Britain and Brittany) are the two major islands while smaller islands such as the Isle of Man and the Scottish islands exist as well.

The ethnic groups that are under the umbrella term "British" are the Irish (who live on the island of Ireland), the Welsh that live in south-eastern Britannia, the English (who live in southern Britannia) and the Scottish who live in the northern part of Britannia.

Historically the Irish have been mainly the same since the pre-Roman days while the English are a mix between the native inhabitants called the Celts, later during the years 400-700 AD the Anglos and the Saxons migrated to Britain. By the first crusade in 1095 the four ethnic groups were defined in history.


II.) Creating an Empire

By the early 1600's the British were travelling by ship 2000 miles to the west to the large island of Newfoundland. On the eastern part the British had created a fishing settlement they named St. John's and this was only the beginning. By 1700 AD the British had colonies across eastern America. The drawback was of course when about a third of Americans declared independence and drove those loyal to the King into the what was then Upper and Lower Canada (now Ontario and Quebec).

The Americans, though they rejected acknowledgement of the British Monarch, unlike neighboring Canada was still very much British. 38 out the 43 US Presidents were ethnically British. (In fact in the two major candidates in the 2016 election are ethically British; Mrs. Clinton is Welsh and Mr. Trump is Scottish.)

During the 1700's the British took over French territory in Canada and expanded to Africa.
By 1815 the Brits had territory in South Africa, India and Australia.
By 1900 the Brits had hundreds of miles of land on every Continent exempt for South America (it does however hold a small Island off the coast of Argentina.)

Today the British Empire influences the world in three ways:

1.) It helped the Protestant faith so that today large percentages of Americans, Sub-Saharan Africans, Australians, New Zealanders and to a lesser degree Canadians identify as Protestant.

2.) It spread civilization so that today literacy and healthcare facilities are significantly more prevalent than they would be without colonization.

3.) It spread the English language so that today English is the dominate language in North America and is very commonly spoken south of the Saharan, in India and in Oceania.

III.) Abolishing Slavery

 In 1833 the British empire abolished slavery in its domain. The effort to abolish slavery took decades however and was mainly due to efforts from Evangelical Protestants and to some degree Secularists and Catholics. John Newton, who penned the hymn "Amazing Grace" and Prime Minister William Wilberforce were very active in trying to persuade Parliament to forego the practice.

This wasn't enough for the British however; partly for economic reasons the Empire began to demand all other European empires cease to continue slavery. By the end of the century slavery was almost entirely wiped out throughout the world.

For reference the Americans abolished slavery in 1865 after a four year civil war that left millions of dead.

IV.) Where are they now?

In the modern world the majority of the British live in seven countries: The United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Some twenty countries are part of the British Commonwealth where citizens celebrate British influence in their countries. Some countries such as the Bahamas have a significantly more positive view of the Empire than India where past abuses are still discussed. In America British Common Law is relied on to this day. This is also true in Canada with the exemption of the Province of Quebec which relies on the Napoleonic Code for it's Civil Law.