IMMIGRATION
  1. A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS

- US is called "a nation of immigrants"
    1. European Settlers
    1. Spanish were first Europeans to settle permanently (1500s)
    1. Sought riches, not settlement
    1. 1600s - English and French begin to immigrate (sought settlement)
    1. French: Canada and Mississippi River (Louisiana)
    2. English: East Coast (13 colonies)
    3. Late 1600s and 1700s - German, Irish, Scottish, Swedish
    1. Africans - forced to immigrate through slave trade
    1. remained in bondage until 1865 (end of Civil War)
    2. suffered from discrimination - unfair treatment
    3. segregation - separate facilities
    1. Restrictions
    1. Mid-1800s: Americans worry that immigrants were taking their jobs and land.
    1. 1882 - first law to restrict immigration
    2. govt. sets quotas for first time - numerical limits
    1. Immigration Today
    1. Current quotas - 675,000 immigrants each year, only 27,000 from any one country.
    2. Exception -- refugees - people who have lost their homes because of war, famine, or political oppression.
    3. How mixed is our culture?
    1. Melting Pot Theory: different cultures are "melted" together to form an American culture. Our society is so mixed that you can't tell the different cultures apart.
    2. Salad Bowl Theory - individual cultures make up an American culture, but you can still tell them apart. Each culture retains its distinctive features.
    1. Population Growth
    1. growth due more to childbirth than immigration
    2. large families required for farm tasks, and later years still required children to help with household duties.
    3. since 1930, fewer people live on farms than in cities = slower pop. growth.
    4. 1930 - 1990: population grew from 123 mill. to 265 mill.
    1. slowest growth rate was slowest in nation's history.
    1. Shifts in Population
    1. mid 1800s - rural areas to cities for employment
    2. African American move to northern cities after 1865
    3. Migration - mass movement within country
    4. 1970s - move to south and west regions; out of large crowded cities
    5. Rise of suburbs as people move out of cities
    6. Changes in nation
    1. living longer
    2. more women in workforce (they own 30% of all businesses)