CHAPTER 1

UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURE OF THE

UNITED STATES
LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES

■ What is life like in their country?

■ What kind of houses do they live in?
■ What are their customs?
LIFE IN THE UNITED STATES

Remember two things:

■ The immense size of the United States
■ Its great ethnic diversity
NATION OF IMMIGRANTS

■ In 1815: the population was 8.4 million

■ Over the next 100 years, the USA took in 35 million immigrants
■ In 1882, 40000 Chinese arrived
■ From 1900 to 1907: more than 30000 Japanese came
■ The largest numbers are from central, eastern and southern Europe
NATION OF IMMIGRANTS

When immigrants came, they brought with them their languages and cultures but most of
them assimilated to the dominant American culture.
Melting pot: all races are melt and reformed.
NATION OF IMMIGRANTS

■ Greatest numbers of immigrants came in the 1900s.

■ In the first two decades: about 1 million new immigrants per year.
■ By 1910 census: 15% Americans had been bone in another country.
■ In 1921: the country limited immigrations, 150,000 new immigrants per year.
■ From 1965: several exceptions allowed groups of refugees from other countries to
come. More than 1 million accepted per year.
■ Illegal immigrations added more than half a million per year
■ Laws to help family re-unification created another group of new immigrants
NATION OF IMMIGRANTS

Immigration patterns are changing the color and the ethnic mix of the American population:
Percentage of white Americans of European descent decrease.
More than half new immigrants were from Latin America resulting in large
concentration of Spanish speakers.