American Ethnicity | EssayIvy.com

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American Ethnicity

Introduction

America has an ethnically and racially diverse population. The nation recognizes six categories

of races, which include the Native Americans, the Black Americans, Asian American, Alaska

Native, Pacific Islanders, and the Native Hawaiian. Notably, an ethnic group shares the same

ancestry, cultural heritage, history, origin myth, language, homeland as well as symbolic systems

such as physical appearance, art, and dressing style. Although migration into the US came with

negative effects such as slavery, brutality, and some level of violence, it also attracted

development and cultural diversity.

The African-Americans

The African Americans are the ethnic group in the United States of America that derives total or

partial ancestry from black ethnic groups in Africa. They constitute the third biggest ethnic and

racial group in America (Berlin). Their history started in the sixteenth century when the English

colonies from North America forcefully took people from West Africa as slaves through

transatlantic slave trade so that they can work in Spanish America plantations. Even after the

Civil War, America denied four million slaves their freedom (Berlin). The White people treated

them as inferior; thus, they called them second class citizens. In 1790, the Naturalization Act

stated that only white people could vote.

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The second migration occurred as an internal slave trade in that the whites transported the

captives from the coast of the Atlantic Ocean to the interior of South America (Berlin). On the

other hand, the third movement occurred when the black people brought other Africans from the

south, which was rural, to the urban north. At the end of the twentieth century until the beginning

of the twenty-first one, Africans freely migrated to the United States of America (Berlin). Each

of the migrations reshaped and shaped the life of the African Americans.

The Americans locked the Africans in stinking ships and made them experience years of

bondage. Besides, the human beings trade supplanted all other commercial businesses. The West

traded more than twelve million Africans (Berlin). Following the advent of tobacco plantations

in North America, exploitation, brutality, and level of violence increased, which made the whites

hold exceptional power and wealth. The farm owners demanded more slaves as a form of labor.

As the Africans continued to reproduce, their owners increased their wealth (Berlin). The black

population continued to grow naturally.

The Asian-Americans

At first, when the Asians initially arrived in America, the residents permitted and welcomed

them. However, the California Gold Rush attracted more Chinese laborers and miners to

California, but, this time, the Americans dishonored them and established restrictive laws against

them (Johnson). Later in the 1800s, the American immigration laws excluded them from

citizenship. Following the World War II, the immigration laws changed allowing the Asians to

migrate to the United States of America.

In some quarters, the natives welcomed the Chinese miners. The railroad constructors

recruited them to construct the transcontinental railroad. After three years, the United States of

America and the Chinese signed the Burlingame treaty, which allowed immigration of the

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Chinese. Due to the overwhelming influx of Chinese, nearly sixty-five thousand people, some

metropolitans passed laws that prohibited immigration of Chinese and Japanese. In California

and Wyoming, anti-Chinese protests also erupted (Johnson). Apparently, the Americans favored

the deportation of the Chinese.

Meanwhile, the Americans increased their communication and contact with Japanese as

they migrated to California and Hawaii to provide labor in the agricultural sector. By 1869, the

immigrants have established the Wakamatsu silk and tea colony (Johnson). During the Second

World War, the Americans placed approximately one hundred thousand Japanese-Americans in

the internment camps. Even though most of them did not understand or speak Japanese, the

Americans still regarded them as threats. In 1952, the McCarran-Walter Act eliminated racism

whereas the immigration act ended the national quotas of 1965. Thus, Asian immigration

increased. Later, in 1988 the Congress gave twenty thousand dollars to Japanese-Americans who

suffered internment (Johnson). On the other hand, the diplomatic relations enhanced the

migration from China to the United States of America.

Latino and Hispanic Americans

Latino Americans and Hispanic Americans are descendants of Iberian Peninsula and Latin

America. The government also classifies Americans originating from Spain, Cuba, Argentina,

Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Nicaragua,

Honduras, El Salvador, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Ecuador, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Peru as

Hispanic or Latino. Since the sixteenth century, the Latinos continuously settled in the United

States earlier than other groups of Europeans. The Spanish explorers were the first to set foot on

the territory. In 1513, the first European, Juan Ponce de Leon, landed on a lush shore. After three

decades, the Spanish reached the Mississippi River, the Appalachian Mountains, the Great

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Plains, and the Grand Canyon. Their ships sailed along the Pacific coast, the east coast, the

Maine, and the Bangor. In 1565, they created the first permanent settlement for the Europeans in

the United States. By the end of the American revolutionary war in 1783, Spain claimed half of

the American territory. Up to 1848, America acquired its area through purchase, diplomacy,

treaties, and the American-Mexican War (Guisepi). When the immigration law of 1965 changed,

migration of Latino and Hispanic people increased.

North African and Middle Eastern Immigrants

By 2013, more than one million immigrants from North Africa and the Middle East resided in

America. Political instability and presence of economic opportunities motivated the three phases

of migration from the MENA territory. The first movement consisted of fifty thousand Christians

fleeing the declined economy and wars in Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. The 1924 immigration

act restricted the Asian immigration, which, in turn, ended the MENA wave. From 1948 to 1965,

the second wave occurred due to revolutions in Egypt and the Arab-Israeli war. The restrictive

quota system only allowed the highly educated immigrants from Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. In 1965,

the removal of the quota system opened doors for the third phase of immigration that included

people who sought for family reunions, employment, education, and protection from persecution

and war. Over the past decade, immigrants from Yemen and Saudi Arabia continue to increase

rapidly. The American law allows two-fifths of the immigrants from MENA to obtain

permanent residence in America in cities such as California, New York, and Michigan (Zong and

Batalova). Certainly, America allowed the MENA immigrants due to their high education

attainment.

Conclusion

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Overall, people who migrated to America include the Africans, the Hispanics and Latinos, the

Asians, and the MENA immigrants. The African were forcefully brought to America as slaves

while the Asians came as laborers and miners. Besides, the Hispanics arrived as explorers, and

the MENA immigrants flee their war-torn countries to seek safety in America. Therefore, as

reviewed in each case, migration had its benefits as well as problems.

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Works Cited

Berlin, Ira. “African Migration to Colonial America” African Migration to Colonial America |

The Gilder Lehrman Institute Of American History, www.gilderlehrman.org/history-

now/essays/african-immigration-colonial-america. Accessed on 5 November 2016.

Guisepi, R.A. “The Story of Hispanics in the Americas” HISPANIC AMERICANS, history-

world.org/hispanics.htm. Accessed on 5 November 2016.

Johnson, David. “From Chinese laborers in the 1800s to Millions of U.S. Citizens Today.”

Asian-American History, http://www.infoplease.com/spot/immigration1.html.

Zong, Jie and Jeanne Batalova. "Middle Eastern and North African Immigrants in The United

States." migrationpolicy.org. 3 June 20, http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/middle-

eastern-and-north-african-immigrants-united-states. Accessed on 5 November 2016.

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