I ask as so much of the core of US culture, and society, seem to be rooted in England. I think of the language, the legal system, the various denominations of protestant Christianity, and even things like baseball or apple pie. And yet, Americans seem to feel much more of an affinity with countries like Italy, Ireland or Spain.
Why is this, in your opinion?
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Because I’m German heritage
I recognize the cultural and legal inheritance but that doesn’t create any personal connection for me, it’s just a bit of historical context on why some things are the way they are.
I guess the question for me is more like: Why would I feel anything towards something that abstract and far removed from my personal experience and background?
I like Monty Python and Dr Who. Does that count?
>And yet, Americans seem to feel much more of an affinity with countries like Italy, Ireland or Spain.
I think I disagree with this premise.
I consume far more British cultural exports like literature, music, television than any other foreign source.
Well I’m Mexican for one lol
I don’t even feel a connection to Massachusetts, not sure why’d I feel one for a country across the Atlantic xD
Because it has to do with familial heritage.
This isn’t true for me, so you’re assuming some Americans don’t. I very much feel a connection with Britain, but I assume the Americans who like to say they don’t are patriotic about the origins of our country, which included being separated from Great Britain. So, I think this causes some people to want to overemphasize the differences between our countries rather than recognize what should be obvious similarities. I’ve seen both sides of the pond do it online, love to ruffle each other’s feathers even if they don’t mean what they say. So, they’ll purposefully overexaggerate differences and say our countries have nothing in common, sometimes Americans love being stubborn and rebellious for the sake of it. So, when we’re specifically asked if we feel a connection somewhere, that’s probably what I suspect is going on here/why lots of Americans may like to say they don’t or say the opposite lol.
But lots of Americans still love British culture, and lots of Americans who know about world affairs now tend to emphasize Britain as our best ally other than Canada too in the world stage, (the anglosphere in general really) so many do feel a connection there in that sense. Some also may like to say they don’t feel connected because their ancestors (this is a big one I feel particularly in this comments section I notice) might have immigrated from other places more recently, so that may be why they jump towards saying they’re Irish, German etc. over England, which I think is valid. But if you’re talking in a cultural sense and not strictly ancestry, I do think some tend to really overexaggerate how many differences we have.
When honestly when I see a British person on YouTube or something I struggle to even see them as properly European, even if they are considered one since Britain is an island and I feel like I see them more in our media and everything compared with other Europeans, so I see them as similar. Their country doesn’t seem to be run much differently than ours aside from the monarchy and Brits have a more polite social culture. Their news channels seem to be set up similarly from what I see, and I notice similarities in our foreign policies + politics in general (Labour and Tory parties vs Democrats and Republicans for ex.) both countries are viewed as black sheep by Europe and the rest of Europe in Britain’s case, language, I’m sure things such as the American breakfast was inspired by the English, both either fetishize the time when they either are (in America’s case) or were (in Britain’s case) military superpowers etc.
The waves of Irish and Italian immigration were much more recent, so people of those heritages have fewer generations separating them from their ancestral homes. In my case, I have some English ancestry, but I have a lot of other places as well. Nearly half of my great-grandparents were born in Ukraine, but I would have to go back something like 10 generations to find someone born in England.
Not sure where you see the massive affinity with Spain. I wouldn’t call that common in the US.
Most of us feel connected to the places our ancestors immigrated from. Most of us didn’t immigrate from England.
People who came to the US from Germany or England faced less discrimination than people from just about anywhere else (or Native Americans). The people facing discrimination bonded over their shared heritage. It’s why there’s less of a connection to Ireland among people of Irish descent in the south than in the north, because Irish people who came to the US and moved to the south tended to be protestant.
I think the historical links to England that you mentioned, such as language, religion, and common law system, aren’t seen as foreign/separate to the United States in the same sense that Italy or Spain is.
Why would we? That shit was a few hundred years ago.
Because we’re not all British descendants. I don’t feel affinity to Italians, the Spanish or Irish. There are things I like about each country sure but to say I have a connection to England/Britain other than old history no.
I’m sure other Americans feel different but for me The UK is far removed for me. It’s just another nice country to travel to and get media from.
We got our own thing with Canada and Mexico
We had a war.
Listen I don’t care if you’re British just don’t do it around me.
First and foremost our country started because we violently overthrew British rule. The United States then created its own identity.
As for why we feel more connected with other European cultures?
My ancestors came here from Ireland during the potato famine, they weren’t English they were Irish.
Don’t get me wrong I like the UK, they are the closest European nation to us after all. But my family isn’t from there, we are Pennsylvanians from Ireland.
Baseball? I thought that was a U.S. invention.
And I doubt the UK was the inventor of apple pie…I mean if you look it up, a lot of people were making versions of apple pie. It sounds to me that they were just the first to need a recipe for it. LOL
If you are referring to the who ancestry thing (Italian American, German American), there’s a good reason we don’t really talk about English American. The connection is so engrained that it’s hard to distinguish the difference between “English-American” vs “American” unless you are talking about recent immigrants.
I have a pretty complete genealogy for my family tree. I’ve had the who ancestry dna thing done. Per the whole dna thing, my ancestry is 66% from the British Isles and Ireland. My most recent ancestor to immigrate to the US was over 200 years ago. That’s how prevalent British ancestry can be in the US. The entire branch of my mom’s side is 100% British. And the bulk came over 300 years ago.
My ancestors primarily settled in the southeast which was heavily settled by the English, so it makes sense. But it makes it hard to separate cultural elements of the US from British culture.
Different regions have different immigrant patterns, but that’s my explanation for your question.
First, white Americans are approximately 58% of the United States’ total population. Second, the majority of white Americans cannot connect their cultural roots to pre-Revolutionary War America. Third, England was not sending waives of people to the United States the way other European countries were in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Additionally, although Protestantism as a whole is the in the plurality when it comes to religions in the United States, the single largest Christian denomination in the United States is Catholicism by far when the various Protestant denominations start splintering.
As for me personally, I enjoy various bits of British media, literature, and history, but I am not ethnically English on either side of my family, nor is either side of my family Protestant.
British food alone is a casus belli.
>And yet, Americans seem to feel much more of an affinity with countries like Italy, Ireland or Spain.
Ok, I think I see the issue here. To me it seems more like you’re asking about not just culture but ancestry. Like “Americans will talk about how their ancestors were from Italy or have Irish Fest or similar celebrations for their origins. Why not for England?”
And I think there’s two answers for that.
* While England founded the colonies originally, more recently during the 1800’s and early 1900’s there was a huge wave of immigrants from places like Italy, Ireland, and Germany. So they formed their own subcultures and lots of places still have influences from those ethnic groups.
* You’re right, England has had a lot of influence on US culture, legal system, etc. So much so that it’s kind of blended into the background and become ubiquitous. And for ancestry, if you’re a white American some Anglo Saxon ancestry is assumed. People take an DNA test and find out “Ooh, my ancestors came from Norway!” or “Wow I’m 5% Irish!”. Nobody takes one and is surprised to find England in there.
It’s very simple
We left Britain
But if you want a serious answer:
The majority of “white” Americans are not English, most trace their lineage to three later waves of immigration that were largely Irish, German, and Italian. At least in my experience it’s uncommon to have family in the US as far back as when it was an English colony or even beyond the early 1900s. And for those who do that’s often one branch of their family tree.
I think it’s also the UK and US are *very* culturally different. I mean the founders of the US were pretty explicitly trying *not* to make a country like England.
Personally I do think there’s a lot of English history that needs to be understood to properly understand the US, the constitution was built upon the Magna Carta and essentially thousands of years of English history toning down the power of the king.
One of our biggest holidays is the celebration of our independence from the UK, so that should answer your question.
Huh??
I mean.. white Americans or mixed-race Americans with English ancestry probably do. I certainly do since parts of both sides of my family come from there, but I’m not sure why Americans without any ancestors from England would feel a special connection to those countries except for their personal interests maybe in British history or culture. I mean, people tend to have more of a connection to countries they have heritage from.
Also, Americans IMO do have more of a connection with England than other countries around the world. I mean, compare the different international media Americans consume. I’d be surprised if British movies/TV wasn’t at the top of that list. Also, the UK is one of, if not the strongest ally to us.
Also.. I could be wrong but I don’t think the English ever played baseball?? I think that’s an American thing..
1) We violently left Britain’s rule in the 1770s. Then we fought them again in the 1810s.
1.5) From the 1600s to the mid-1800s, there were waves of “forced immigration” (to put it lightly) of people from Africa and China to the Americas. They had no particular allegiance to Britian.
2) In the 19th century and early 20th century, there were waves of immigration into the U.S. from places like Ireland, Northern Europe, Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe. Those people brought those cultures. While their descendants generally assimilated to a melting-pot of “American” culture, those folks often some pride in their heritage– it’s seen as just a little different from the “mainstream”
3) In the 20th century to present, there are waves of immigration into the U.S. from places like Mexico and Central America, India, and China. See No. 2 above.
4) American Protestant Christianity is more alligned with Continential European Protestantism than Anglicanism. Plus, we had our own Evangelical movement in the 1900s that make American Christianity look very different from British Christianity, even if there were still some Calvinist roots.
5) Baseball is not British. Cut it out.
6) I don’t think there are very many Americans who hold much affinity for Spain. I betcha 50% of Americans couldn’t even find Spain on a map.
Bc we filed for divorce from them 247 years ago
People largely stopped immigrating here from Britain after the revolution, meaning most British ancestry is heavily diluted at this point. Meanwhile Ireland and Italy both had major migrations to the US in the 19th and 20th century, so many people still have strong connections to those cultures.
I dont think I know anyone here with a connection to Spain. Spanish culture indirectly influences ours through their impact on Hispanic culture, so that may explain your perception.
Because we’re the descendants of immigrants, not necessarily the descendants of the British.
The core of US culture is rooted in the UK? Hmmm other than the language and history plus a solid alliance…I think there isn’t much else.
Outside of history and TV…most have no clue about England. There is a bigger Mexican presence in the US than really anything. The UK are strong allies but other than that…Yeah.
When many do travel from the US to Europe…they wanna hit up countries that aren’t the UK. It is what it is…I think most Americans would probably even prefer to go to Australia if they were to go to another country that is English speaking. Im speculating of course.
I mean…the birth of our country was quite literally “We don’t want to be England.”
There was a pretty firmly worded letter about it.