English Ancestry

Which reminds me that when I was rummaging through the public records on my Dad's Uncle Ben, it was interesting to note that he is often listed as being of English descent even though his father, my great-grandfather, is actually sort of German/Swiss/Prussian and his mother is part Smith, which no one know what that means, English or German, and Levine which we originally thought was French but also could be Jewish, and also Speers which traces back to Ireland and earlier back to Scotland. So where is the English in this so-called "English" man who turned birth at sea into a full-time occupation and was often traveling all over the world as a crew member on various ships? In America we all speak English so I suppose that is one way of looking at it. And anyway, just yapping loudly does not mean there is no English in there somewhere maybe. I really don't know. Yes, I suppose that listing yourself as of English race avoids the problem of being labeled an enemy of the U.S. during World War I but anyway I really could not say what Uncle Ben was thinking.