Why is German the largest self-reported ancestry in the United States and not English if the US was a British colony?

Question

Why isn’t it English by far?

In: Other

Answer 1

english ancestry americans have been america for 300+ years for the most part and don’t identify as english – they identify as american. Thus the second largest group (german) becomes the largest immigrant ancestry, because the first largest one isn’t thought of as an immigrant ancestry anymore.