1. British Empire
1.1. British Empire was a worldwide system of dependencies that was brought under the sovereignty of the crown of Great Britain and the administration of the British government over some three centuries.
1.1.1. Great Britain's maritime expansion accelerated in the 17th century and resulted in the establishment of settlements in North America and the West Indies.
1.1.2. The first tentative steps toward the establishment of the British Empire began with overseas settlements in the 16th century
1.1.2.1. The British Empire does not exist today. However, the Commonwealth is a free association of sovereign states comprising the United Kingdom and many of its former dependencies that acknowledge the British monarch as the association's symbolic head.
1.1.2.1.1. The last significant colony of the British Empire was Hong Kong. It was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
1.1.3. The East India Company began establishing trading posts in India in 1600, and the first permanent British settlement in Africa was made at James Island in the Gambia River in 1661.
2. American Culture
2.1. The European roots of the United States originate with the English and Spanish settlers of colonial America during British and Spanish rule.
2.2. The English ethnic group contributed to the major cultural and social mindset and attitudes that evolved into the American character.
2.2.1. Today the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of the Census recognizes five races: Native American or Alaska native African American Asian White (European American) Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
2.2.1.1. The United States has never had an official language at the federal level, but English is typically used at the federal level and in states without an official language.
2.2.1.2. During the 17th and 18th centuries, dialects from many different regions of England and the British Isles existed in every American colony.
2.2.1.2.1. Thanksgiving is the principal traditionally-American holiday, evolving from the English Pilgrim's custom of giving thanks for one's welfare.
2.2.1.2.2. Mardi Gras, which evolved from the Catholic tradition of Carnival, is observed in New Orleans, St. Louis, Alabama, and other towns.
2.2.1.3. There are 7 Main groups of Dialects in the United States: Western American English North Central American English Northern American English Midland American English Southern American English New York City American English Northern New England American English
3. NORTHERN IRELAND
3.1. IS APART OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, BUT IS UNDER THE Government of IRELAND act in 1920 lying in the northeastern quadrant of the island of Ireland, on the western continental periphery often characterized as Atlantic Europe. Northern Ireland is sometimes referred to as Ulster, although it includes only six of the nine counties
3.1.1. A Catholic refers to a Christian who follows the Catholic religion as transmitted through the succession of Popes of Rome and the Vatican Empire across history. The Pope is the leader of the Catholic church. Catholic which is a member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are separate from the Roman Catholic Church and follow the principles of the Reformation, including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches.
3.1.1.1. In the late 1960s, riots broke out between Protestants and Catholics in Belfast and Londonderry. The violent decades that followed became known as “the Troubles”. At the beginning of the 1970s The British government sent soldiers to Northern Ireland to restore peace and decided to rule Northern Ireland directly from London.
3.1.1.1.1. The points: -The future of Northern Ireland should be determined by the people. -All political groups must share power in Northern Ireland -The creation of a northern Irish Assembly with law-making powers -Britain and the Republic of Ireland agree to a council that discuss the problems in Northern Ireland
3.1.1.2. As time went on both sides realized that violence could not lead to a solution. The British and Irish governments tried to get political and paramilitary sides to the conference table. The IRA promised to end all violent activities. Finally the talks ended in a historic agreement signed on Good Friday 1998.
3.1.2. The island of Ireland was divided into four provinces, the northernmost of which was called The Ulster coat of arms, which included a red cross, used by earls from the de Burgh family centuries ago.
4. SCOTLAND
4.1. England has always played the most powerful part in the history of the British Isles. However, the other three countries, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, have a different history
4.1.1. To the east and to the south the lowland hills are gentler, and much of the countryside is like England, rich, welcoming and easy to farm. North of the "Highland Line", as the division between highland and lowland is called, people stayed tied to their own family groups.
4.1.1.1. Scotland was populated by four separate groups of people. The main group, the Piers, lived mostly in the north and northeast. They spoke Celtic as well as another, probably older, language completely unconnected with any known language today, and they seem to have been the earliest inhabitants of the land
4.1.1.1.1. The non-Pictish inhabitants were mainly Scots. The Scots were Celtic settlers who had started to move into the western Highlands from Ireland in the fourth century. In 843 the Pictish and Scottish kingdoms were united under a Scottish king, who could also probably claim the Pictish throne through his mother, in this way obeying both Scottish and Pictish rules of kingship.
5. WALES
5.1. Wales, constituent unit of the United Kingdom that forms a westward extension of the island of Great Britain.
5.1.1. By the 18th century most of the Celts had been driven into the Welsh peninsula.
5.1.1.1. They were kept out of England by Offas' Dyke, the huge earth wall built in AD 779.
5.1.1.1.1. Wales is a mountainous country, the cymry could only live in the crowded valleys. The rest of the land was rocky and too poor for anything except keeping animals. For this reason the population remained small. It only grew to over half a million in the eighteenth century.
5.1.1.1.2. Life was hard and so was the behaviour of the people. Slavery was common, as it had been all through Celtic Britain.
5.1.1.2. In 1039 Gruffydd ap (son of) Llewelyn was the first Welsh high king strong enough to rule over all Wales. He was also the last, and in order to remain in control he spent almost the who le of his reign fighting his enemies.
5.1.2. The capital and main commercial and financial centre is Cardiff. Famed for its strikingly rugged landscape, the small nation of Wales—which comprises six distinctive regions—was one of Celtic Europe’s most prominent political and cultural centres, and it retains aspects of culture that are markedly different from those of its English neighbours.