Anglo is used in the United States primarily in distinguishing a white English-speaking person from a person of Hispanic heritage. This usage originated in the Southwest, where historical patterns of settlement resulted in three distinct, relatively stable cultural groups: Native American, Hispanic, and most recently Anglo (short for Anglo-American). While Anglo is used exclusively of whites, it is not strictly limited in this context to persons of English ancestry—German Americans, Polish Americans, Irish Americans, and others can all be viewed as Anglos so long as their primary language is English. Outside of the Southwest and southern California, however, Anglo is less widely used as a general label for non-Hispanic whites. In areas where there is no large Hispanic population to be measured against or where ethnic distinctions among various European groups remain strong, Anglo is less commonly used as a catchall term.
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Anglo is also used in non-Hispanic contexts. In Canada, where its usage dates at least to 1800, the distinction is between persons of English and French descent. And in American historical contexts Anglo is apt to be used more strictly to refer to Americans of English descent, as in this passage by Benjamin Schwarz describing the politics of nation-building in pre-Revolutionary America: “The ’unity’ of the American people derived … from the ability and willingness of an Anglo elite to stamp its image on other peoples coming to this country“ (the Atlantic Monthly, May 1995).
