Different pottery types appear, new enclosures called henges were built along with stone rows and the famous Stonehenge site reached it's peak by 2200 BC.

The Bronze Age reached Britain around 2300 BC when the Celts made their appearance on the Island.  Believed to be of Iberian origin (modern day Spain and Portugal) techniques were brought to Britain for refining metal.  Over the next thousand years bronze gradually replaced stone as the main  material for tool and weapon making. These Celts brought iron working with them, ploughs, metal swords, horses, wheels and chariots.  This made them instantly superior to the stone age natives living on the island.  One of the main tribes of Celts was named Briton, hence, Britain.

Around 1600 BC the southwest of Britain was experiencing a trade boom as British tin was exported across Europe.  Copper was mined in North Wales.

Early Bronze Age Britons buried their dead beneath earth mounds known as barrows.  Later, cremation was adopted as a burial practice with cemeteries of urns containing cremated individuals appearing in the archeological record.  The people lived in round houses and divided up the landscape.  They ate cattle, sheep, pigs and deer as well as shellfish and birds.  They manufactured salt and were renowned as wheat farmers.

Around 750 BC iron working techniques reached Britain from southern Europe.  This was the beginning of the Iron Age.  More settlements became enclosed and land ownership was more important.  By 600 BC, British society was changing to a "Celtic" culture and by 500 BC this culture covered most of the British Isles.  The Celts were highly skilled craftsmen.  By this time the Britons lived in organized tribal groups, ruled by a chieftain.

As the population grew, wars broke out between opposing tribes.  They started building hill forts, the first built around 1500 BC.  Roman sources note that Britain exported hunting dogs, animal skins and slaves.

From around 175 BC the areas of Kent, Hertfordshire and Essex had especially advanced pottery making skills.  The tribes of south-east England were partially Romanized and were responsible for creating the first settlements large enough to be called towns.

About 100 BC iron bars began to be used as currency and internal trade and trade with continental Europe flourished, thanks largely due to Britain's extensive mineral reserves.  Coins were developed bearing the names of local chieftains.

England was now ripe for Roman invasion.

Roman Era

Britain was not unknown to the rest of the world.  The Greeks and Carthaginians had traded for British tin in the 4th and 5th century BC.  The Greeks refer to the Cassiterides or "tin islands" and describe them as being situated somewhere near the west coasts of Europe.  The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 5th century BC, and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th.  But it was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers even refusing to believe it existed.

Julius Caesar made two expeditions to Britain in 55 and 54 BC.  The first expedition was a failure but during the second Caesar proceeded to coerce the native tribes to pay tribute and give hostages for peace.  He conquered no territory but the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade.

In 43 an invasion force led by Aulus Plautus enter Britain and landed in Kent.  The Romans were successful and established their rule.  But it was not to be an easy one.  While the Romans were campaigning in Wales, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt.  Then the Scottish lands were occupied and had to be left in retreat.  After a defeat in what is today northern Scotland, the Romans retired  to a more defensible line, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.

Finally in 120 AD, during the reign of Hadrian, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier.  But even this didn't keep the free-loving spirit of the British from going on the attack.  In 180 Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the Romans had mutiny in the ranks. 

Over the next centuries various Roman rulers attempted to rule north of Hadrian's Wall but the British tribes made that all but impossible, keeping the Romans constantly in retreat.  Yet the British tribes could never get united sufficiently to force the Romans off British lands. 

In 210 Septimius Severus returned as the Roman ruler over Britain and divided the existing province into Upper Britain and Lower Britain.  this kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century, but was not permanent.  As Roman rule was disintegrating elsewhere in the world, their hold on Britain became difficult to maintain.  In 293 Constantius further divided the country into four provinces and in 306 he made plans to invade northern Britain but he died on July 15, 306.

During the 4th century there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Irish in the west.  And even though a series of forts was built this was not enough to stop a combined assault in 367.  Yet Roman rule still prevailed.  The Saxons were not Britons and a Saxon incursion in 408 was repelled by the Britons.  Yet by 600 the Saxons occupied Lowland Britain and many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name). 

At the start of the 4th century, Britannia formed part of the Western Roman Empire under Honorius.  However that would soon end and some Saxons were probably already in England as mercenaries.  Roman troops were removed from Britain in 402 by Stilicho and bulk coin payments ceased.  In 406 the army in Britain revolted and "barbarian" raids on Britain continued.  After 410 Honorious sent letters to the cities of Britain telling them to fend for themselves and civil wars broke out, mainly a class struggle between peasants and land owners.

After the Romans

A "council" was convened to find ways of countering the barbarian threat, which opted to hire Saxon mercenaries, which turned against the British and plundered the towns.  The country was in a state of chaos until around 500 AD after which there was a long period of peace.  The British seem to have been in control of part of Britain and the Saxons the rest.

In the late 6th century the Saxons expanded their territory with the capture of Sarum in 552 AD.  But the Britons still had about half of England and Wales.

In 793 the first of many recorded Viking attack in Britain happened at Lindisfarne monastery.  Alfred the Great's victory in 878 stemmed the Danish Viking attack but by then the Vikings had a foothold.  In North Britain the Vikings were one reason behind the formation of the kingdom which eventually evolved into Scotland.  The Vikings had similar effects on the various kingdoms of the Irish, Scots and Welsh.

Unification

Alfred of Wessex created a large number of schools and did much to uplift his people.  He also created the first English navy and re-organized the army.  He was considered by many to be England's greatest king and died in 899.  Alfred was succeeded by his son Edward the Elder who began a program of expansion.  By 918 Edward had gained control of the whole of England south of the Humber and completed the conquest of the Danes that his father had begun.  Edward's son was the first king to achieve direct rulership of the whole of England. 

Yet the country again came under Danish rule when the British kingdom was weak.  Then came William the Conqueror.  William was a direct descendant of Rollo the Viking, who settled in France at the invitation of the French in an attempt to stave off further Viking attacks.  Due to a series of family links, William ended up being a claimant for the English throne.  He led a Norman, French speaking army across the English channel and landed in south east England.

The Norman invasion of Kent was met by Harold of Essex, the claimant to the throne, who had previously defeated and killed the invading Harold Hardraada.  But this time Harold of Essex would be defeated by William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings in October  of 1066.  William was then crowned in Westminster Abbey on Christmas day, 1066.

The invasion of England by the Normans marked a dramatic shift in English history.  For the next 600 years English society would be dominated not by Scandinavia but by France.  This would also mark the gradual technological and cultural development of the kingdom that made Great Britain the great nation that she was to become.

The first undertaking of the new Norman ruler, William, was to institute a survey of England.  This produced the famous Domesday Book which was a full account of all property and wealth in England beginning of the 11th century, a document which is invaluable for the study of English history.

The first of three major English civil wars broke out in 1135 over secession to the English throne.  The war lasted until 1154 when Henry Plantagenet took the throne and crushed all dissenters, including the leading Christian churchman in England, Thomas O'Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered in 1170.

It was during Henry's reign that Ireland was first occupied by the English.  The conquest of Ireland was completed by 1603, opening a festering political sore which has plagued the English right up to today.

Henry was succeeded by his son, Richard Lionheart, who won his fame for spending most of his time outside of England fighting foreign wars, including undertaking an important crusade.  In 1189 the first anti-Jewish riot took place in London, which spread to York where 150 Jews were killed by a mob after they took refuge in a local building, Clifford's Tower.

Richard was succeeded by his brother John, who promptly lost Normandy to the French in 1204 and who, against his will, gained renown for signing the Magna Carta in 1215.  John, who was known as John the Bad, only signed the Magna Carta under duress, he feared the English nobles would overthrow him if he didn't give his approval to the provisions of the decree.

ENGLISH IMMIGRATION TO AMERICA

The English were the first Whites to permanently settle in America.    Virginia was established in 1607 and Massachusetts Bay in 1620 by the .  James Oglethorp settled Savannah, Georgia in 1732.  While many Englishmen came to America to exercise their own religion, most were drawn by the economic opportunities and cheap land.

The first settlers in Virginia were single men.  It was not until the late 1620s that an annual English immigration of several thousand men and women began and the success of Jamestown was assured.   It wasn't until the early 1700s that English immigration expanded due to economic difficulties in England.  After Maryland and Delaware were founded (Delaware by Catholics) indentured Englishmen and working-class families constituted a majority of the new English settlers.

Between 1717 and 1776 over 30,000 male and female prisoners convicted of serious felonies were transported to Virginia, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania to work on the plantations.  Although all colonies from Virginia to Georgia received a stream of English prisoners and indentured servants, many were successful in attracting the younger sons and poorer cousins of gentry and merchant families.

The Pilgrim and Puritan settlement in Massachusetts Bay attracted over 20,000 settlers from East Anglia (England) and the counties west of London between 1620 and 1642.  During these decades English settlements were made in New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut by religious reformers who were not tolerated in Massachusetts.  Most of these settlers were older and came to America with their family, friends, and assorted relatives.

In 1664 an English fleet captured New Amsterdam and renamed it New York.  Pennsylvania was founded by English Quakers and attracted a large number of German, French, Welsh, Scottish, and Scotch-Irish settlers but retained its English character throughout the colonial period.

English immigration to America sharply decreased between 1780 and 1815 due to the American Revolution and the War of 1812.  During the War of 1812 British aliens were forced to register with local marshals; many English merchants were kept from their trade and forced to relocate; and for the duration of the war English aliens were treated with suspicion, and their freedom of movement was severely restricted.

During the 1860s annual English immigration increased to over 60,000 and continued to rise to over 75,000 per year in 1872 before experiencing a decline.  Throughout the nineteenth century, England was the largest investor in American land development, railroads, mining, cattle ranching, and heavy industry.  By the end of the century the middle-Atlantic states had the largest number of English Americans, followed by the north-central states and New England.

The English constitute the third largest ethnic group in the United States.  The States currently  having the largest number of English Americans are California, Texas, Florida, New York and Ohio.

Between 1820 and 1920 over 2,500,000 English immigrated to America, the sixth highest number.