The Anglosphere

English began as the speech of a few tribes on an island off the edge of Europe. It went on to circle the globe, and it carried three great things with it: the common law, parliament and a stubborn love of freedom.

1. Anglo-Saxon England

   c. 450 to 1066

   Settlers from northern Europe brought the language that became English. Christian monks spread learning, and kings such as Alfred the Great defended the land, promoted education and helped forge a single English kingdom.

   AD 597

   Augustine arrives in Kent to bring Christianity to the English

   AD 731

   Bede finishes his history of the English church and people

   AD 871

   Alfred the Great becomes King of Wessex

   AD 927

   Athelstan unites England under one king

2. Common Law and Magna Carta

   1066 to 1400

   After the Norman Conquest, English courts built up a body of law based on custom and past decisions. Barons forced a king to accept limits on his power, and parliament began to take shape.

   1066

   William of Normandy wins the Battle of Hastings

   1166

   The Assize of Clarendon helps lay the groundwork for the common law

   1215

   King John puts his seal to Magna Carta

   1265

   Simon de Montfort’s parliament includes town representatives

   c. 1387

   Chaucer begins The Canterbury Tales

3. Print, Faith and Shakespeare

   c. 1476 to 1611

   The printing press and the English Bible put the written word into everyday hands. England stood up to the greatest naval power of the age, and Shakespeare showed what the language could do.

   1476

   William Caxton sets up England’s first printing press

   1526

   William Tyndale’s English New Testament is printed

   1588

   England defeats the Spanish Armada

   c. 1600

   Shakespeare writes Hamlet

   1611

   The King James Bible is published

4. Parliament Beats the Crown

   1628 to 1689

   In a long and bloody struggle, the English settled who was in charge. By the end of it, the monarch ruled under the law, and parliament had won a lasting place at the centre of government.

   1628

   The Petition of Right challenges the King’s powers

   1642

   Civil war breaks out between King and Parliament

   1679

   The Habeas Corpus Act protects against unlawful detention

   1689

   The Bill of Rights becomes law after the Glorious Revolution

5. Across the Atlantic

   1607 to 1763

   English settlers took their language, laws and habits of self-government to North America. At home, England and Scotland joined to form Great Britain, and British trade and sea power spread around the world.

   1607

   Jamestown becomes the first lasting English settlement in America

   1619

   Virginia holds the first elected assembly in English America

   1620

   The Pilgrims sail on the Mayflower

   1707

   The Acts of Union create Great Britain

6. Enlightenment and the American Founding

   1689 to 1791

   English and Scottish thinkers made the case for limited government, free markets and individual rights. The American colonists took those ideas, broke with Britain and wrote them into a new constitution.

   1689

   John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government is published

   1776

   America declares independence and Adam Smith publishes The Wealth of Nations

   1787

   The United States Constitution is written

   1790

   Edmund Burke publishes Reflections on the Revolution in France

   1791

   The American Bill of Rights is adopted

7. Industry and Abolition

   c. 1770 to 1865

   Britain led the world into the industrial age, changing how people lived and worked. Driven by faith and conscience, campaigners turned the British Empire, and in time the United States, against slavery.

   1769

   James Watt patents his improved steam engine

   1807

   Britain bans its slave trade

   1825

   The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens

   1833

   Britain passes the law abolishing slavery across most of its empire

   1865

   The Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery in the United States

8. New Nations in the South and North

   1788 to 1901

   Canada, Australia and New Zealand grew into self-governing democracies, and in some ways they moved ahead of the old country. Australia and New Zealand became world leaders in democratic reform.

   1788

   The First Fleet arrives at Sydney Cove

   1840

   The Treaty of Waitangi is signed in New Zealand

   1856

   Victoria and South Australia bring in the secret ballot

   1867

   Canada becomes a self-governing dominion

   1893

   New Zealand women win the right to vote

   1901

   Australia becomes a nation at Federation

9. Standing Together in War

   1914 to 1945

   Twice in a generation, the English-speaking nations fought side by side. In 1940, Britain and its Commonwealth partners held out against Hitler, and the United States then joined them to help free a continent.

   1915

   The Anzacs land at Gallipoli

   1940

   The Royal Air Force wins the Battle of Britain

   1941

   Churchill and Roosevelt agree on the Atlantic Charter

   1944

   Allied forces land in Normandy on D-Day

   1945

   Allied victory ends the Second World War

10. The Modern Anglosphere

    1945 to today

    English-speaking nations helped lead the free world through the Cold War and remain close partners today. English has become the world’s most widely used language, for business, science and the internet.

    1946

    Britain and America sign the intelligence pact that grows into Five Eyes

    1951

    Australia, New Zealand and America sign the ANZUS Treaty

    1969

    Apollo 11 puts the first people on the Moon

    1989

    Tim Berners-Lee proposes the World Wide Web

    2021

    Australia, Britain and America form AUKUS