The United States - A Nation of Immigrants
United States
From the very earliest European settlers to arrive in what would become the United States, we have been a country built by and for immigrants. Whether they come forcibly or by choice, to escape hardships or to seek greater freedoms, immigrants have shaped American history and controlled its destiny. To understand this is to understand the American people.
They say that the United States is a melting pot, in which various cultures and people mix and interact to create a new, unique American culture. The first immigrants came searching religious freedoms, economic prosperity, adventure, and wide-open spaces. Quakers and Puritans came to establish religious colonies, fleeing the religious persecution they faced at home, influencing the American ideal of freedom of religion. Some English immigrants came to Georgia to establish a debtors' haven, while other colonies like New York and Virginia were formed as money-making ventures.
Slaves brought from Africa and the West Indies brought a whole different culture and outlook to the colonies and made an impact on the thoughts, foods, and attitudes of the future United States. By the time the nation declared its independence, there were people from all over Europe and Africa living and working in 13 different states.
The nineteenth century saw a huge boom in immigration, with an enormous influx of Irish, Germans, Italians, and Eastern Europeans coming to the country seeking freedom from hunger, freedom from war, and freedom to pursue dreams of business and industry. By the middle of the century, the West Coast began to see a rise in the number of Chinese and Japanese immigrants who came to the country during the gold rush. While xenophobia and racism made Americans of European descent uneasy, the new immigrants began to shape the cultural and ethnic makeup of the United States in ways that would take over a century to fully appreciate.
Immigration continues today, with many Americans divided about the benefits and the draw-backs that go along with it. Some question our ability to pay for the health care and social services that these immigrants will need, while others criticize the way immigrants are treated in our society. But at the end of the day, America remains a shining beacon to people the world over as a land of freedoms and economic plenty. The see the United States and think of those famous lines, "give us your poor, your tired, your longing masses longing to be free."
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