Professional Documents
Culture Documents
First immigrants
Native Americans
Old immigration
Southeastern European immigration
Recent immigration and Refugees
FIRST IMMIGRANTS
The British were the first to colonize on large scale in the Northeastern regions
They came for profit and religious freedom (Protestantism and Puritanism)
In 1607, the first successful English colony was founded in Jamestown, Virginia.
Throughout 1600s and 1700s, permanent settlements were rapidly established
along the eastern coast.
The British were joined by people from Northwest of Europe (Germans, Swedes,
Dutch, French, Swiss…) and Africans.
FIRST IMMIGRANTS
The British had more overriding influence on other immigrants.
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) was predominant in society
(mainstream).
Other immigrants were reluctant to give up their ethnic identity.
They learned English and adopted English customs to be assimilated
into American society.
Assimilation process was different from generation to generation
(p.49).
NATIVE AMERICANS
Native Americans had been living there for 12,000 years before the Europeans arrived.
Native Americans had their own cultures and civilization.
European settlers took their lands through war, threats, and treaties to build big cities.
By the end of 19th century, a large number of native Americans was wiped out.
Native Americans are now confined in reservations.
From native Americans’ perspective, the story of European immigration is a story of
struggle and displacement.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are about 4.5 million Native Americans and
Alaska Natives in the United States today. That’s about 1.5 percent of the population.
OLD IMMIGRATION
10 m. people came to America between 1840 and 1860.
There were thousands of Chinese emigrated to California to work on the railroad.
The overwhelming majority of immigrants came from northern and western Europe.
They came for political, social, and economic reasons to escape:
- political unrest, eg. French and Germans
- religious intolerance, eg. British
- poor harvests and famine, eg. Irish people came to escape starvation due
to a serious potato blight (disease that killed plants).
African slaves were brought over for economic reasons, ones that did not serve them,
but instead served the economic interests of the slave owner.
OLD IMMIGRATION
They brought with them the ideas, skills, and culture upon
which the very foundation of America is built .
The English settlers formed the governments, language and
major cultural traditions that would become America.
Many Irish workers constructed transportation routes
(railroads, etc...) and the Germans and others
brought farming techniques and education traditions.
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION
Majority of newest immigrants came from Mexico, Latin America, and Asia
(600000-700000/year).
Asians and Cubans have shown a drive to succeed as Americans and seemed
most willing to assimilate.
Mexican Americans are not easily assimilated and have a strong sense of their
own culture.
Refugees flee from their country because of persecution on the basis of race,
religion, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.
Refugees from Cambodia and Vietnam fled the destruction of the war.
VIETNAMESE IMMIGRANT POPULATION IN THE
UNITED STATES, 1980-2012
VIETNAMESE IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES BY
PERIOD OF ARRIVAL
TOP DESTINATION STATES FOR VIETNAMESE
IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES, 2008-12
IDENTITY CRISIS: THE MELTING POT OR A SALAD BOWL?
In the "salad bowl“ metaphor each culture retains its own distinct qualities (the different ingredients
in the salad), but has a sense of common national identity in the country of habitat (the salad).