The Anglo Foundations of the Anglosphere: Still Core, But Fading Fast in the US and Australia, By Brian Simpson and Chris Knight (Florida)
In a December 30, 2025, American Thinker piece titled "A Nation of Englishmen, Actually," author Matt O'Brien pushes back against Colin Woodard's regional "nations" theory of American identity, arguing instead that the United States remains fundamentally a nation rooted in English, or more broadly British, cultural, legal, and moral traditions. Drawing on historian Russell Kirk, O'Brien asserts that British elements dominate America's public and private life so thoroughly that stripping them away would leave "no coherent culture." The Declaration of Independence, he notes, is a quintessentially English document, grounded in Magna Carta, Common Law, and Anglican moral theology. Immigration succeeds historically when newcomers assimilate into this Anglo-Protestant core, but unchecked mass migration risks dilution and national "stumbling."
This perspective resonates beyond the US. Both the United States and Australia were forged as British settler colonies, inheriting parliamentary democracy, common law jurisprudence, English language dominance, Protestant ethical frameworks (work ethic, individualism, limited government), and a cultural emphasis on personal liberty and rule of law. These institutions — transplanted and adapted — form the bedrock of what we call the Anglosphere. Yet mass immigration has diluted this heritage, though the core persists in diluted form, and the majority-origin population still traces back to British Isles roots. The shift is accelerating, raising questions about cultural continuity and national cohesion.
In the US, the latest data (2020 Census, with American Community Survey updates through recent years) shows English ancestry as the single largest reported group: about 46.6 million people (around 14% of the total population) claim English heritage alone or in combination, edging out German (45 million) and Irish (38.6 million). Broader British ancestry (including Scottish, Welsh, etc.) pushes the figure to roughly 61.7 million, or 18.4%. English remains the top ancestral response in many Southern and Appalachian regions, reflecting colonial settlement patterns. Samuel Huntington's influential 2004 book Who Are We? framed this as an "Anglo-Protestant" core — English language, Protestant values, British legal traditions — that attracted and assimilated immigrants for centuries. Non-Anglo groups became "American" by adopting these elements, enriching the "tomato soup" without fundamentally altering it.
Australia mirrors this pattern even more starkly. The 2021 Census (latest comprehensive ancestry data, with population updates to mid-2025 showing ~27.6 million total) lists English as the top ancestry at 33% (over 8.3 million people), followed by Australian (29.9%, often a proxy for long-settled Anglo descent), Irish (9.5%), and Scottish (8.6%). Combined Anglo-Celtic ancestries dominate, with English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh roots accounting for a clear majority of European-origin claims. About 31.5% of Australians are overseas-born as of 2024, with England still the largest source country (~964,000 people), though India and China have surged. The cultural and institutional imprint remains British: Westminster-style parliament, common law courts, English as the de facto official language, and a historical Protestant majority shaping social norms.
Both nations' founding myths — Jamestown and Plymouth for the US, Botany Bay and subsequent free settlement for Australia — centre on British subjects establishing societies in the English framework. Core institutions endure: independent judiciaries, free speech traditions (with limits, and under intense threat), property rights, and capitalist economies infused with Protestant work ethics. Even as demographics diversify, these frameworks attract global migrants, much as Huntington argued the Anglo-Protestant culture drew people in.
Yet the dilution is undeniable and accelerating. In the US, "American" ancestry (often masking mixed or colonial British roots) and rising Hispanic, Asian, and other groups mean the explicit Anglo share shrinks generationally. Intermarriage, cultural blending, and policies favouring multiculturalism, erode the once-dominant assimilation model. In Australia, similar trends prevail: post-1970s multiculturalism shifted from British preference to points-based diversity, boosting non-European inflows; multiculturalism is a policy of Anglo-Saxon dilution, and ultimate replacement. The overseas-born proportion has climbed steadily, and younger cohorts reflect far less uniform British heritage.
This "fast disappearing" aspect alarms thinkers like O'Brien and Huntington, who warn that without deliberate preservation — through language requirements, cultural education, or selective immigration — the unifying core could fracture, leading to fragmented identities or eroded social trust. Critics counter that the Anglosphere's strength lies in its adaptability: absorbing influences while retaining institutional resilience has historically fuelled prosperity and innovation. They assume that ethno-dilution can go on forever with no collapse: clearly absurd.
Thus, the British basis remains foundational, diluted but not erased, and still the majority ancestral thread in both countries. Whether it endures as a coherent cultural anchor or fades into a nostalgic relic depends on how future generations balance openness with inheritance. In an era of global migration, the question isn't just demographic; it's whether the English-speaking world's defining genius—pragmatic liberty under law—can persist without its original ethnic-cultural scaffolding. All indications are without Anglos waking up and maintaining their cultural identity, these societies will become non-nations of warring tribes, to raise the voltage on a remark Professor Blainey once made.
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/12/a_nation_of_englishmen_actually.html
