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French and British interests had been in a conflict since the 16th century.
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Only 6 million people in the whole world spoke English, with all of them living in the British Isles.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles) -
French forces was defeated and the whole of present-day Canada came under British rule.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada) -
Captain Cook’s voyages revealed a “terra australis incognito”, an unknown southern continent.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Australis) -
The declaration of independence.
(http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/) -
The first convicts arrived, and for many years most Australians came to England in chains.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convicts_in_Australia) -
The British Empire grew. British manpower was stretched to the limits and needed to rely on the native population, and meet the problem.
(http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/British_Empire) -
Peace treaty between the British and Australian Aborigines.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi) -
“Free” settlers came in large numbers from Britain.
(https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_free_settlers) -
The Maori numbered some 750,000 in New Zealand.
(https://ndla.no/en/node/114008?fag=42) -
The United States of America had a population of 70 million and had long since become the biggest English-speaking country in the world.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_English-speaking_population) -
When Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne, there were fifty times as many native speakers of English than in 1558. They could be found in every corner of the world.
(https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_II) -
The number of people who can speak english will soon reach 3 billion, and is an official language in 61 countries.
(http://robslink.com/SAS/democd80/official_language_by_country.htm#english) -
More people starts to learn english and the english language could possilbly replace the norwegian language in the near future.
