Basic Features of Americans

7/30/2019 Basic Features of Americans

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POSITIVE NEGATIVE

1. 1.

2. 2.

3. 3.

List some positive and negative impacts of cultural diversity to a nation!


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IIMMIGRATION

DIVERSITYNationality vs Citizenship

Melting pot vs Diversity

EFFECTS:

Enrich American CultureIncrease Human ResourcesEnliven Volunteerism/risk-taker for new things

Highten independence &optimism

34,000-30,000 BC: EARLIEST IMMIGRANTS: Asian intercontinentalwanderers (Indians ancestors) crossed Bering Strait before theice melted.

8,000 BC: Primitive Agriculture (Central Mexico 3000 BC: Early irrigation (New Mexico)

300 BC: First Sign of early village 100 BC: Housing (pyramid-like moulds) in Phoenix, Arizona, and

Mexico 1492: Columbus discovered America (Bahamas Islands); Indians=

1,500,000 1600s: A great tide of immigrant from Europe :

1) To escape political oppression2) To seek freedom for practicing religion3) To grasp adventure/opportunities/material comfort they

couldnt achieve in Europe. 1619-1809: Unwilling ImmigrantsAfricans brought as slaves 1620-35: 14,000 Englishmen came to America due to Economic

difficulties triggered by industrial revolution 1780: 75% Europeans living in America were of English & Irish

descent. English prevalent American language 1892-1954: Ellis Island (New York) received 12 mil. Immigrants;

and now still receives 675,000 / year Today there are about 5,000,000 illegal immigrants


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ICE AGE (34,000-30,000 BC):

Asian intercontinentalwanderers (Indians ancestors)crossed Beringia, the landbridge (1500 kms. wide)

In thousand years the wanderers continued their way through up to the present U.S.


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1492: Columbus discovered America

(Bahamas Islands); Indians= 2-8 millions

1920: Indians number decreased to

350,000 due to: (1) war with newcomers

from Europe (2) diseases brought by

Europeans, like smallpox.

1900s: the government forced Indians

to live in reservations.1990s: Indians = 2 million (0.8 % of the

total U.S. population), and only about

one-third of them still live on

reservations.

Countless words in US are derived f rom

Indians language, including

Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan,

Mississippi, Missouri, and Idaho.

Indians taught Europeans how to

cultivate crops that are now staples

throughout the world: corn, tomatoes,

potatoes, and tobacco.

Canoes, snowshoes, and moccasins are

among the Indians many inventions.


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The Golden Door

1491: Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbeanlooking for a western route to Asia.

1497 a Venetian sailor, John Cabot arrived inNewfoundland on a mission for the British king, which

was later made the basis for British claims to NorthAmerica.

In 1600s a great tide of emigration from Europe (ofwhom English were dominant) to North Americabegan. They emigrated in order to:

escape political oppression

to seek the freedom to practice their religion

to find opportunities denied them at home.


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Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyescommandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp! cries sheWith silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-lost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

(Emma Lazzarus)

93 M


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Unwilling Immigrants

In 1619 to 1808, about 500,000 Africans werebrought over as slaves into the U.S.

The process of ending slavery began in 1861 withthe outbreak of the American Civil War betweenthe free states of the North and the 11 slave statesof the South which had left the Union.

Slavery was abolished in the U.S. with the passageof the Thirteen Amendment to the countrysConstitution in 1865.

In 1963, U.S. Congress passed laws prohibitingdiscrimination in voting, education, employment,housing, and public accommodations.

Now, African Americans constitute 12.9 % of thetotal U.S. population.

Martin Luther King, Jr.


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U.S Ancestry1790 (est imate) 2000

1790 2000Ancestry group Number % of

totalAncestry group Number % of

total

English 1,900,000 47.5 German 42,885,162 15.2

African American 750,000 19.0 African American 36,419,434 12.9

Scottish Irish 320,000 8.0 Irish 30,594,130 10.9

German 280,000 7.0 English 24,515,138 8.7

Irish 160,000 5.0 Mexican 20,640,711 7.3Scottish 160,000 4.0 Italian 15,723,555 5.6

Welsh 120,000 3.0 French 10,846,018 3.9

Duth 100,000 2.5 Hispanic 10,017,244 3.6

French 80,000 2.0 Polish 8,977,444 3.2

Native American 50,000 1.0 Scottish 4,890,581 1.7

Spanish 20,000 0.5 Dutch 4,542,494 1.6

Swedish 20,000 0.5 Norwegian 4,477,725 1.6

British (Total) 2,500,000 56.5 Scottish- Irish 4,319,232 1.5

TOTAL 3,929,326 100.0 Native American 4,119,301 1.5

Swedish 3,998,310 1.4


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Distribution of U.S. Population

by Race/Ethnicity, 2010 and 2050

NOTES: All racial groups non-Hispanic. Data do not include residents of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, or the Northern Marina Islands. Totals maynot add to 100%.

SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation, based on http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/downloadablefiles.htmlU.S. Census Bureau, 2008, ProjectedPopulation by Single Year of Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin for the United States: July 1, 2000 to July 1, 2050.

7.6%

12.2%11.8%

16.0%

30.2%

64.7%

46.3%

3.0%1.5% 0.8% 0.8%

0.1% 0.2%

4.5%

White, Non-Hispanic

Hispanic

African-American, Non-HispanicAsian

Native Hawaiian andPacific IslanderAmerican Indian/AlaskaNativeTwo or More Races

Total = 310.2 million Total = 439.0 million

2010 2050


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EFFECTS OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY

POSITIVE NEGATIVE

Makes life rich, colorful and

interesting

Potential to emerge prejudice,

conflicts, & discrimination

Enrich the a societys culture

and human resources

Tend to cause the majoritys

tyranny and social alienation

of the minority

Fertilize mutual competition

advantages among societymember

Makes a lingua franca a must


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Bibliography

Althen, Gary. 2003. American Ways: A Guide for Foreigners inthe United States. Maine: Intercultural Press.

Bigsby, Christopher. 2006. The Cambridge Companion toModern American Culture. New York: Cambridge University

PressDatesman, M.K., Crandall, J., & Kearny. 2005. American Ways:

An Introduction to American Culture. New York: PearsonEducation Inc.

http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/downloadablefiles.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States
http://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/downlohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_Unithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_Unithttp://www.census.gov/population/www/projections/downlo


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Basic Features of Americans

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