Old Stock Americans


Old Stock Americans, Pioneer Stock, or Anglo-Americans, are Americans who are descended from the original settlers of the Thirteen Colonies, of mostly British ancestry, who colonized America in the 17th and the 18th centuries. Some of these Old Stock Americans identify by "American ancestry" because they are so far removed from their original ethnic ancestry origin.

Settlement in the colonies

Between 1700 and 1775, the overwhelming majority of settlers in the colonies were Britons of varying ethnic backgrounds such as English, Welsh, Scottish and Scots-Irish, with initial settlements focused on the colonial hearths of Virginia, New England and Bermuda, under Elizabeth I of England, James VI and I and Charles I of England. Populations of Huguenots, Dutch, Swedes, and Germans arrived before 1776 mostly as fellow royal subjects, but the majority were from Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

19th Century to present

Until the late 20th century, Old Stock Americans dominated American culture and politics. Thousands of Germans and Irish from the southern regions of their countries immigrated to the United States during the 19th century and were met with strong opposition from the majority Protestant and temperance movement-minded Old Stock, who were anti-immigration and anti-Catholic.
Regardless of ancestral origin, English-speaking, native-born White Americans, were referred to as Anglos or Native Americans. American settlers arriving in droves to the newly acquired, formerly French Louisiana, Spanish Florida, and Mexican colonies, whether they were native born or of European origin, were labelled as "Anglos”.