THE AMERICAN PEOPLE

THE NATIVE AMERICANS

Columbus arrived in the fifteenth century >> called "Indians," in-
the mistaken belief that he had reached the East Indies
Western states
live on reservations
Major problems: Poverty and unemployment

THE BRITISH
Beginning in the 1600s, the British settled the eastern part of
North America
The British culture was the foundation on which America was
built

AFRICAN-AMERICANS
From 1620 to 1820 by far the largest group of people to the U.S
worked as slaves, especially on the plantations, or large farms, of
the South
The Civil War (1861-865), ended slavery and established equal
rights for black Amer­icans,helped to stimulate
Many black Americans live in the South and in the cities of the
Northeast and Midwest

FROM NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE

Beginning in the 1820s
Faced with problems in Europe —poverty, war, discrimination
Many new immigrants became farmers in the Mid­west
To this day, German and Scandinavian influence is obvious in
Midwestern foods and festivals

SOUTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE

from the 1870s to the 1930s
escape poverty and discrimination
changing from a mainly agricultural to a mainly industrial
country >> immi­grants helped make this change possible
1920s: discrimination and preju­dice in the United States >> laws
limiting immigration >> Immigration slowed down

HISPANIC-AMERICANS
people of Spanish or Spanish- American origin
lived in areas that later became part of the United States
Three especially large groups: Mexican-American, Puerto Ricans,
and Cuban-Americans.
Hispanics: one of the fastest growing groups in the United States
population

ASIAN-AMERICANS
19th century, laws limited Asian immigration + met with
widespread dis­crimination
mid-1960s, changes in im­migration laws + conflicts in South­east
Asia >> Asians have been a major immigrant group