American History

[Name of the Institute]

American History

Question # 4: Anglo-Saxon and Protestant legacy

The settlement history of the United States is inseparable from that of immigration. The real minorities are indigenous (Indian, Inuit and Aleut) and populations whose territories have been purchased or annexed, such as Louisiana, New Mexico, Texas, California, etc.. Since the arrival of European settlers in the sixteenth century, more than 50 million immigrants settled in the United States. Until 1940, the vast majority of immigrants came from Europe. Few until the 1830s, they arrived en masse from 1840-1850. First Anglo-Saxon immigration is growing, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the countries of Mediterranean Europe (especially Italy) and Central Europe (Slavs). More than 23 million immigrants poured in from 1880 to 1920.

From the 1920s, the United States, eager to curb immigration, established a quota system. The economic crisis of the 1930s has only reinforced this trend. A new form of immigration grew after World War II. They were mostly political refugees from Eastern Europe, anti-Castro Cubans in 1960 and Indochinese boat people after 1974 (Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians) (Steinberg, 2001). The United States as a nation seems to be monolingual myth rather than reality. Yet this is what was argued by defenders of English in the U.S. who still dream of a white America, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant. However, non-Hispanic whites will form even less than 50% of the population in 2043, according to data from the 2008 census. Moreover, by 2050, minorities Hispanic, Asian and black will be 54% of a population that has reached 439 million. Hispanics are forecast to have growth rates the highest, reaching 133 million people by 2050 and representing a third of the growth of the entire population from 2010 to 2050, due to a high rate of births and immigration (Fought, 2003). According to Steinberg, following were the outcomes of immigration.

Assimilation

This is the solution once openly advocated by President Theodore Roosevelt. Back then, immigrants came overwhelmingly from Europe have melted into the American melting pot.

Acculturation

This is the partial assimilation of cultural values ??gradually imposed by the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP), the dominant group. While assimilating linguistically, some communities wanted preserved cultural traits of their own. This is the case of the Cajuns of Louisiana, Italians from Middle Atlantic.

Domination

This is the common term ("politically correct") to describe the tragic fate of Native Americans.

The cultural bipartisanship

This expression refers to small communities that have managed to maintain the lifestyles they practiced in the eighteenth century. The best known examples concern the Mormons of Salt Lake City, Francophone in Vermont and Maine, the Amish of Pennsylvania State of Ohio and Indiana or the Mennonites of Pennsylvania and Ohio (Steinberg, 2001).

The rejection segregationist

This is the most common pattern in recent decades, which is for a minority to preserve its cultural values ??while integrating into American society. For decades, the black community has practiced this form of integration. Today, Hispanics (Latinos and Chicanos) and Asians are the most important representatives. There is no United States official social ...