Prior to 1787 when they started being sent to Australia)
So claiming to be English-American could be admitting to being descended from members of penal colonies.

I believe in Australia it can be quite a source of pride to have convict ancestry. I've got a great-grandfather (or maybe an extra "great" in there) who was supposed to have been transported there for shooting a landlord's agent; and he eventually came back, and we're all proud of him.

I know there are a fair number of Morris Dance sides in America now. I've never heard whether this is particularly associated with celebrating English heritage. Is it?