Anglo-Saxonism in the 19th century facts for kids
Anglo-Saxonism was a set of ideas popular in the 1800s, mainly in Britain and America. It was a belief system created by thinkers, politicians, and university experts. This idea suggested that English-speaking people were special because of their supposed "Anglo-Saxon" heritage.
It often included beliefs that one group of people was better than others. For example, it used ideas like "Old Northernism" and the "Teutonic germ theory." These ideas claimed that Anglo-Saxons had their roots in ancient Germanic groups, especially the Norse people.
As one scholar explained, this belief system argued that:
The civilization of English-speaking nations was superior to that of any other nations because of racial traits and characteristics inherited from the Anglo-Saxon invaders of Britain.
In recent years, experts have become more interested in studying Anglo-Saxonism from the 1800s. Many see it as an early version of a later idea called Nordicism, which became popular in the 1900s.
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What Was Anglo-Saxonism?
Anglo-Saxonism is the most common name for an old idea. It linked the English, Scottish, or British nations (and later countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand) to a Germanic heritage. This heritage was thought to come from Anglo-Saxon, Norse, or Teutonic people.
This idea had many different names. Sometimes it was called Teutonism or Anglo-Teutonism. It could also be called Anglism or Saxonism. But Anglo-Saxonism is the name used most often.
Historian Allen Frantzen describes Anglo-Saxonism as a strong belief in the "Anglo-Saxon 'genius'." This idea changed over time. In the 1500s and 1600s, people admired Anglo-Saxon ways of governing themselves. But by the mid-1800s, it became more about racial superiority and empire-building. Historian Barbara Yorke agrees, noting that the earlier ideas of self-governance changed into a belief that one race was better than others.
Australian scholar Helen Young says that Anglo-Saxonism was "profoundly racist." This means it was based on unfair and harmful ideas about different races. It even influenced famous writers like J. R. R. Tolkien in his fictional stories. Some believe it helped justify the British takeover and occupation of Ireland.
Because of its links to racist ideas, the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists changed its name in 2019. This was to avoid confusion with the harmful beliefs of Anglo-Saxonism.
How Anglo-Saxonism Started
The Teutonic Germ Theory
Many historians and political thinkers in Britain and the United States supported a theory called the "Teutonic germ theory" in the 1800s. This theory claimed that American and British democracy and government systems came from ancient Teutonic peoples. It suggested that Germanic tribes spread this "germ" of democracy from ancient Germany to England, and then to North America.
Important supporters in Britain included John Mitchell Kemble and Edward Augustus Freeman. In the U.S., future president Woodrow Wilson also supported this theory. However, in the 1890s, Wilson changed his mind. He began to believe that American democracy came more from the frontier experience.
Ideas About Ancestry and Race
Germanic and Teutonic Connections
Anglo-Saxonism in the 1800s strongly highlighted Britain's cultural and racial links with Germany. People often talked about "Teutonic peoples" as a source of strength and similarity. For example, politician Henry Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer said that "the infant genius of our liberty was nursed" in the "free forests of Germany." Another thinker, Thomas Arnold, claimed, "Our English race is the German race." He believed that even the Normans were related to the Saxons, both coming from the Teutonic or German group.
Norman and Celtic Influence
People who believed in Anglo-Saxonism in the 1800s often tried to ignore or even put down the importance of Norman and Celtic influences in Britain. They wanted to emphasize the Germanic roots.
However, a few Anglo-Saxonists sometimes expressed a different view. They suggested that Anglo-Saxonism simply meant the mix of Celtic, Saxon, Norse, and Norman blood that flowed in the "Anglo-Saxon peoples." Even Thomas Carlyle, a strong Anglo-Saxonist, thought the Normans had given Anglo-Saxons a better sense of order for their nation.
Northern European Identity
Edward Augustus Freeman, a leading Anglo-Saxonist, promoted a wider Northern European identity. He compared the roots of civilization from "German forest" or "Scandinavian rock" favorably with the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome. Scholar Mary Dockray-Miller suggests that before World War I, Anglo-Saxonism helped establish the idea that Northern European ancestry was most important in United States culture.
Lowland Scottish Identity
During the 1800s, many Scottish people living in Lowland Scotland, near the Anglo-Scottish border, started to see themselves as part of the "Teutonic world destiny of Anglo-Saxonism." They wanted to be seen as different from Highland Scots, who they sometimes called the "inferior Celtic race." Some even called themselves "Anglo-Saxon Lowlanders."
Thomas Carlyle, who was Scottish, was one of the first important people to believe in "Anglo-Saxon racial superiority."
Beliefs and Religions
Anglo-Saxonism was closely connected with Protestantism. It often viewed Catholics as outsiders. It was also an idea that stood against other "races," such as the "Celts" of Ireland and the "Latins" of Spain.
Charles Kingsley, a professor at Cambridge University, strongly believed in a "Norse element" within Anglo-Saxonism. He mixed Protestantism with the Old Norse religion. He even said that the Church of England was perfectly suited for the "free Norse-Saxon race." He believed that the ancestors of Anglo-Saxons, Norse people, and Germanic peoples had fought alongside the god Odin. He also thought the British royal family of his time was directly related to Odin.
Political Goals
Expansion of Influence
In 19th-century America, Anglo-Saxonism included the idea that the "Anglo Saxon" race needed to expand into new lands. This was a big part of the idea of manifest destiny. This belief claimed that the U.S. had a right to expand across North America.
A lasting idea within Anglo-Saxonism was the belief in creating a shared citizenship between Britons and Americans. Albert Venn Dicey believed in cooperation, and even a joining together, of people from the "Anglo-Saxon" race.
See also
- Albion's Seed
- Anglosphere
- British Israelism
- Englishry
- Our Island Story
- White Anglo-Saxon Protestants
