Familypedia
Advertisement
European Americans
Regions with significant populations
Contiguous United States and Alaska
smaller populations in Hawaii and the territories
Languages

Predominantly English
German • Russian • Spanish • Italian • French • Portuguese • others

Religion

Predominantly Christianity (of which majority Protestant with Roman Catholicism the largest single denomination); Minority religions: Judaism, Islam

Related ethnic groups

Non-Hispanic Whites
European diaspora • Europeans

European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry.[1][2] This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in America and as well as people who are descended from more recent European arrivals. Euro-Americans are the largest ethnic group in the United States, both historically and at present.

The Spaniards are thought to be the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the contiguous United States, with Martín de Argüelles (b. 1566) in St. Augustine, then a part of Spanish Florida.[3][4] Virginia Dare (b. August 18, 1587) on Roanoke Colony, present-day North Carolina was the first English child and girl, in a late 16th-century attempt by Queen Elizabeth I to establish a permanent English settlement in North America. In the 2016 American Community Survey, German Americans (13.9%), Irish Americans (10.0%), English Americans (7.4%), Italian Americans (5.2%), and Polish Americans (3%) were the five largest self-reported European ancestry groups in the United States forming over a third of the total population.[5] However, the English Americans and British Americans demography is considered by some to be under-counted, as the people in that demographic tend to identify themselves simply as Americans (20,151,829 or 6.2%).[6][7][8][9]

In the United States, the term European American is sometimes used interchangeably and synonymously with the broader terms white and Caucasian.

Terminology[]

Number of European Americans: 1800–2010
Year Population % of the United States Ref(s)
1800 4,306,446 81.1% [10]
1850 19,553,068 84.3% [10]
1900 66,809,196 87.9% [10]
1950 134,942,028 89.5% [10]
2010 223,553,265 72.4% [11]

Use[]

In 1995, as part of a review of the Office of Management and Budget's Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting), a survey was conducted of census recipients to determine their preferred terminology for the racial/ethnic groups defined in the Directive. For the White group, European American came third, preferred by 2.35% of panel interviewees.[12]

The term is sometimes used interchangeably with Caucasian American, White American, and Anglo American in many places around the United States.[13] However, the terms Caucasian and White are purely racial terms, not geographic, and include some populations whose origin is outside of Europe; and Anglo-American also has another definition, meaning, Euro-Americans with English ancestry. European American, when used properly, has a more specific definition and scope.

Origin[]

The term is used by some to emphasize the European cultural and geographical ancestral origins of Americans, in the same way as is done for African Americans and Asian Americans. A European American awareness is still notable because 90% of the respondents classified as white in the U.S. Census knew their European ancestry.[14] Historically, the concept of an American originated in the United States as a person of European ancestry, thus excluding African Americans, Jews, and Native Americans.[15]

As a linguistic concern, the term is sometimes meant to discourage a dichotomous view of the racial landscape between the white category and everyone else.[16] Margo Adair suggests that the recognition of specific European American ancestries allows certain Americans to become aware that they come from a variety of different cultures.[17]

History[]

Historical immigration / est. origins
Country Immigration
before 1790
Population
ancestry: 1790[18]
England* 230,000 1,900,000
Ulster Scotch-Irish* 135,000 320,000
Germany[lower-alpha 1] 103,000 280,000
Scotland* 48,500 160,000
Ireland 8,000 200,000
Netherlands 6,000 100,000
Wales* 4,000 120,000
France 3,000 80,000
Sweden and Other[lower-alpha 2] 500 20,000
*Totals, British 417,500 2,500,000+
United States United States[lower-alpha 3] 950,000 3,929,214
Source:[19](excludes African population.)

Since 1607, some 57 million immigrants have come to the United States from other lands. Approximately 10 million passed through on their way to some other place or returned to their original homelands, leaving a net gain of some 47 million people.[20]

Colonial settlers[]

Between 1607 and 1776 most European settlements were British. Colonial stock of English, Scottish, Scotch-Irish, Cornish or Welsh descent, may be found throughout the country but is especially dominant in New England and the South. Some people of colonial stock, especially in the Mid-Atlantic states, are also of Dutch, German and Flemish descent. The vast majority of these are Protestants. The Pennsylvania Dutch (German American) population gave the state of Pennsylvania a high German cultural character. French descent, which can also be found throughout the country, is most concentrated in Louisiana, while Spanish descent is dominant in the Southwest and Florida. These are primarily Roman Catholic and were assimilated with the Louisiana Purchase and the aftermath of the Mexican–American War and Adams–Onís Treaty, respectively.

1820-1890[]

The first large wave of European migration after the Revolutionary War came from Northern and Central-Western Europe between about 1820 and 1890. Most of these immigrants were from Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Britain, and with large numbers of Irish and German Catholics immigrating, Roman Catholicism became an important minority religion. Polish Americans usually used to come as German or Austrian citizens, since Poland lost its independence in the period between 1772 and 1795. Descendants of the first wave are dominant in the Midwest and West, although German descent is extremely common in Pennsylvania, and Irish descent is also common in urban centers in the Northeast. The Irish and Germans held onto their ethnic identity throughout the 19th and early half of the 20th centuries, as well as other European ethnic groups. Most people of Polish origin live in the Northeast and the Midwest (see also White ethnic).

Second wave 1890-1920[]

Population / Proportion
born in Europe in 1850−2016
Year Population % of foreign-born
1850 2,031,867 92.2%
1860 3,807,062 92.1%
1870 4,941,049 88.8%
1880 5,751,823 86.2%
1890 8,030,347 86.9%
1900 8,881,548 86.0%
1910 11,810,115 87.4%
1920 11,916,048 85.7%
1930 11,784,010 83.0%
1960 7,256,311 75.0%
1970 5,740,891 61.7%
1980 5,149,572 39.0%
1990 4,350,403 22.9%
2000 4,915,557 15.8%
2010 4,817,437 12.1%
2016 4,785,267 10.9%
Source:[21][22][23][24]

The second wave of European Americans arrived from the mid-1890s to the 1920s, mainly from Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Ireland.[14] This wave included Irish, Italians, Greeks, Hungarians, Portuguese, Romanians, Ukrainians, Russians, Poles and other Slavs. With large numbers of immigrants from Spain, Mexico, Spanish Caribbean, and South and Central America, White Hispanics have increased to 8% of the US population, and Texas, California, New York, and Florida are important centers for them.

Shifts in European migration[]

Before 1881, the vast majority of immigrants, almost 86% of the total, arrived from northwest Europe, principally Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia. The years between 1881 and 1893 the pattern shifted, in the sources of U.S. "New immigration". Between 1894 and 1914, immigrants from southern, central, and eastern Europe accounted for 69% of the total.[25][26][27] Prior to 1960, the overwhelming majority came from Europe or of European descent from Canada. The shift in European immigration has been in decline since the mid-20th century, with 75.0% of the total foreign-born population born in Europe compared to 12.1% recorded in the 2010 census.[28]

Template:European American map Clickable map of Europe.[29]
Key: black: states which straddle the border between Europe and Asia; green: states not geographically in Europe, but closely associated with the continent.

Immigration since 1820[]

European immigration to the U.S. 1820-1970
Years Arrivals Years Arrivals Years Arrivals
1820–1830 98,816 1901–1910 8,136,016 1981–1990
1831–1840 495,688 1911–1920 4,376,564 1991–2000
1841–1850 1,597,502 1921–1930 2,477,853
1851–1860 2,452,657 1931–1940 348,289
1861–1870 2,064,407 1941–1950 621,704
1871–1880 2,261,904 1951–1960 1,328,293
1881–1890 4,731,607 1961–1970 1,129,670
1891–1900 3,558,793 1971–1980
Arrivals Total (150 yrs) 35,679,763
Source:[30][31][32][33][34]
Country of origin 1820-1978
Country Arrivals % of total Country Arrivals % of total
Germany1 6,978,000 14.3% Norway 856,000 1.8%
Italy 5,294,000 10.9% France 751,000
Great Britain 4,898,000 10.01% Greece 655,000 1.3%
Ireland 4,723,000 9.7% Portugal 446,000 0.9%
Austria-Hungary1, 2 4,315,000 8.9% Denmark 364,000 0.7%
Russia1, 2 3,374,000 6.9% Netherlands 359,000 0.7%
Sweden 1,272,000 2.6% Finland 33,000 0.1%
Total (158 yrs) 34,318,000
Source:[35][36][37]Note: Many returned to their country of origin

Demographics[]

Top of Rock Cropped

The New York City Metropolitan Area is home to the largest European population in the United States.[38]

The numbers below give numbers of European Americans as measured by the U.S. Census in 1980, 1990, and 2000. The numbers are measured according to declarations in census responses. This leads to uncertainty over the real meaning of the figures: For instance, as can be seen, according to these figures, the European American population dropped 40 million in ten years, but in fact, this is a reflection of changing census responses. In particular, it reflects the increased popularity of the 'American' option following its inclusion as an example in the 2000 census forms.

Birthplace Population
in 2010
Percent
in 2010
Population
in 2016
Percent
in 2016
Totals, European-born 4,817,437 12.0% 4,785,267 10.9%
Northern Europe 923,564 2.3% 950,872 2.2%
United Kingdom United Kingdom 669,794 1.7% 696,896 1.6%
Republic of Ireland Ireland 124,457 0.3% 125,840 0.3%
Other Northern Europe 129,313 0.3% 128,136 0.3%
Western Europe 961,791 2.4% 939,383 2.1%
Germany Germany 604,616 1.5% 563,985 1.3%
France France 147,959 0.4% 175,250 0.4%
Other Western Europe 209,216 0.5% 200,148 0.4%
Southern Europe 779,294 2.0% 760,352 1.7%
Italy Italy 364,972 0.9% 335,763 0.8%
Portugal Portugal 189,333 0.5% 176,638 0.4%
Other Southern Europe 224,989 0.6% 247,951 0.5%
Eastern Europe 2,143,055 5.4% 2,122,951 4.9%
Poland Poland 475,503 1.2% 424,928 1.0%
Russia Russia 383,166 1.0% 397,236 0.9%
Other Eastern Europe 1,284,286 3.2% 1,300,787 3.0%
Other Europe (no country specified) 9,733 0.0% 11,709 0.0%
Source: 2010 and 2016[39]

Breakdowns of the European American population into sub-components is a difficult and rather arbitrary exercise. Farley (1991) argues that "because of ethnic intermarriage, the numerous generations that separate respondents from their forebears and the apparent unimportance to many whites of European origin, responses appear quite inconsistent".[40]

In particular, a large majority of European Americans have ancestry from a number of different countries and the response to a single 'ancestry' gives little indication of the backgrounds of Americans today. When only prompted for a single response, the examples given on the census forms and a pride in identifying the more distinctive parts of one's heritage are important factors; these will likely adversely affect the numbers reporting ancestries from the British Isles. Multiple response ancestry data often greatly increase the numbers reporting for the main ancestry groups, although Farley goes as far to conclude that "no simple question will distinguish those who identify strongly with a specific European group from those who report symbolic or imagined ethnicity." He highlights responses in the Current Population Survey (1973) where for the main 'old' ancestry groups (e.g., German, Irish, English, and French), over 40% change their reported ancestry over the six-month period between survey waves (page 422).

An example is that in 1980 23.75 million Americans claimed English ancestry and 25.85 claimed English ancestry together with one or more other. This represents 49.6 million people. The table below shows that in 1990 when only single and primary responses were allowed this fell to 32 million and in 2000 to 24 million.[41]

The largest self-reported ancestries in 2000, reporting over 5 million members, were in order: German, Irish, English, American, Italian, French, and Polish. They have different distributions within the United States; in general, the northern half of the United States from Pennsylvania westward is dominated by German ancestry, and the southern-half by English and American. Irish may be found throughout the entire country.

Italian ancestry is most common in the Northeast, Polish in the Great Lakes Region and the Northeast, and French in New England and Louisiana. U.S. Census Bureau statisticians estimate that approximately 62 percent of European Americans today are either wholly or partly of English, Welsh, Irish, or Scottish ancestry. Approximately 86% of European Americans today are of northwestern and central European ancestry, and 14% are of southeastern European and White Hispanic and Latino American descent. The figures above show that of the total population of specified birthplace in the United States. A total of 11.1% were born-overseas of the total population.

Ancestral origins[]

Ancestral origin 1980 % 1990 % 2000 % 2014 % Change
1990–2000
Albania Albanian 38,658 0.02% 47,710 0.02% 113,661 0.04% 186,030 +138.2%
United States American1notes 12,395,999 5.0% 20,188,305 7.2% 22,097,012 6.9% +62.9%
Austria Austrian 948,558 0.42% 864,783 0.3% 730,336 0.3% 702,772 -15.5%
Basque Country (autonomous community) Basque 43,140 0.02% 47,956 0.02% 57,793 0.02% +20.5%
Belarus Belarusian 25,639 0.2%
Belgium Belgian 360,277 0.16% 380,403 0.2% 348,531 0.1% -08.4%
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnian 350,000 0.1%
United Kingdom British 1,119,140 0.4% 1,085,718 0.4% 1,326,960 -03.0%
Bulgaria Bulgarian 42,504 0.02% 29,595 0.01% 55,489 0.02% +87.5%
Catalonia Catalan 1,738
Croatia Croatian 252,970 0.11% 544,270 0.2% 374,241 0.1% -31.2%
Cyprus Cypriotnotes 4,897 7,643
Czech Republic Czech 1,892,456 0.84% 1,296,369 0.5% 1,258,452 0.4% -02.9%
Denmark Danish 1,518,273 0.67% 1,634,648 0.7% 1,430,897 0.5% -12.5%
Netherlands Dutch 6,304,499 2.78% 6,226,339 2.5% 4,541,770 1.6% 4,243,067 -27.1%
England English 49,598,035 21.89% 32,651,788 13.1% 24,509,692 8.7% 24,382,182 7.6% -24.9%
Estonia Estonian 25,994 0.01% 26,762 0.01% 25,034 0.01% 29,453 -06.5%
Finland Finnish 615,872 0.27% 658,854 0.3% 623,559 0.2% 635,566 -05.4%
France French 12,892,246 5.69% 10,320,656 4.1% 13,172,178 4.0% 8,153,515
2,099,430
2.6%
0.7%
+27.6%
Georgia (country) Georgiannotes 6,298
Germany German 49,224,146 21.73% 57,947,171 23.3% 42,841,569 15.2% 46,047,113 14.4% -26.1%
Greece Greek 959,856 0.42% 1,110,292 0.4% 1,153,295 0.4% +03.9%
Hungary Hungarian 1,776,902 0.78% 1,582,302 0.6% 1,398,702 0.5% -11.6%
Iceland Icelandic 32,586 0.01% 40,529 0.02% 42,716 0.01% 49,518 +05.4%
Republic of Ireland Irish 40,165,702 17.73% 38,735,539 15.6% 30,524,799 10.8% 33,147,639 10.4% -21.2%
Italy Italian 12,183,692 5.38% 14,664,189 5.9% 15,638,348 5.6% 17,220,604 5.4% +06.6%
Latvia Latvian 92,141 0.04% 100,331 0.04% 87,564 0.03% -12.7%
Liechtenstein Liechtensteiner 1,244 0.0004
Lithuania Lithuanian 742,776 0.33% 811,865 0.3% 659,992 0.2% -18.7%
Luxembourg Luxembourg 45,139 0.01% -/+ 0%
Republic of Macedonia Macedonia 57,200 0.02% -/+ -6,927%
Malta Maltese 31,645 0.01% 39,600 0.02% 40,159 0.01% +01.4%
Moldova Moldovan 7,859 0.003
Monaco Monégasque 486
Montenegro Montenegrin 2,528 0.03%
Norway Norwegian 3,453,839 1.52% 3,869,395 1.6% 4,477,725 1.6% +15.7%
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Dutch 255,807 0.1%
Poland Polish 8,228,037 3.63% 9,366,051 3.8% 8,977,235 3.2% -04.2%
Portugal Portuguese 1,024,351 0.45% 1,148,857 0.5% 1,173,691 0.4% +02.2%
Romania Romanian 315,258 0.14% 365,531 0.1% 367,278 0.1% +0.5%
Russia Russian 2,781,432 1.23% 2,951,373 1.2% 2,652,214 0.9% -10.1%
Ulster Scotch-Irish 16,418 0.007% 5,617,773 2.3% 4,319,232 1.5% 2,978,827 -23.1%
Scotland Scottish 10,048,816 4.44% 5,393,581 2.2% 4,890,581 1.7% 5,365,154 -09.3%
Serbia Serbian 100,941 0.04% 116,795 0.05% 51,679 0.05% -50%
Slovakia Slovak 776,806 0.3% 1,882,897 0.8% 797,764 0.3% -57.6%
Slovenia Slovene 126,463 0.06 124,437 0.1% 176,691 0.1% +42%
San Marino Sammarinese 538
Spain Spanish 94,52 0.1% 360,935 299,948 760,151 -16.9%
Sweden Swedish 4,345,392 1.92% 4,680,863 1.9% 3,998,310 1.4% 4,325,000 -4.9%
Switzerland Swiss 981,543 0.43% 1,045,492 0.4% 911,502 0.3% -12.8%
Ukraine Ukrainian 730,056 0.32% 740,723 0.3% 892,922 0.3% +20.5%
Wales Welsh 1,664,598 0.73% 2,033,893 0.82% 1,753,794 0.6% 1,757,657 -13.8%
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavian 328,547 0.1% 268,205
Other European 1,968,696 0.7% 3,679,468
Scandinavian 425,099 0.2% 583,323
United States United States 214,726,269 94.78% 223,371,445 89.81% 201,290,597 71.53% decrease-18,28%
Source: 1980[42][43], 1990[44], 2000[45], ACS (2014).[46][47][48]

Culture[]

Motherhood and apple pie

American cultural icons, apple pie, baseball, and the American flag. All have European influence primarily from the British.

Cultural roots[]

The culture of the Americans of European descent, European-American culture, is the culture of the United States. As the largest component of the American population, the overall American culture deeply reflects the European-influenced culture that predates the United States of America as an independent state. Much of American culture shows influences from the diverse nations of the United Kingdom and Ireland, such as the English, Irish, Cornish, Manx, Scotch-Irish and Welsh. Colonial ties to Great Britain spread the English language, legal system and other cultural attributes.[2] Scholar David Hackett Fischer asserts in Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America that the folkways of four groups of people who moved from distinct regions of the United Kingdom to the United States persisted and provide a substantial cultural basis for much of the modern United States.[49] Fischer explains "the origins and stability of a social system which for two centuries has remained stubbornly democratic in its politics, capitalist in its economy, libertarian in its laws and individualist in its society and pluralistic in its culture."[50]

Much of the European-American cultural lineage can be traced back to Western and Northern Europe, which is institutionalized in the government, traditions, and civic education in the United States.[51] Since most later European Americans have assimilated into American culture, most European Americans now generally express their individual ethnic ties sporadically and symbolically and do not consider their specific ethnic origins to be essential to their identity; however, European American ethnic expression has been revived since the 1960s.[14] Southern Europeans, specifically Italian and Greeks (see Greek American), have maintained high levels of ethnic identity. Same applied to Polish Americans. In the 1960s, Mexican Americans, Jewish Americans, and African Americans started exploring their cultural traditions as the ideal of cultural pluralism took hold.[14] European Americans followed suit by exploring their individual cultural origins and having less shame of expressing their unique cultural heritage.[14]

The Solutrean hypothesis suggested that Europeans may have been among the first in the Americas.[52][53][54] More recent research has argued this not to be the case and that the founding Native American population came from Siberia through Beringia. An article in the American Journal of Human Genetics states "Here we show, by using 86 complete mitochondrial genomes, that all Native American haplogroups, including haplogroup X, were part of a single founding population, thereby refuting multiple-migration models."[55]

Law[]

The American legal system also has its roots in French philosophy with the separation of powers and the federal system[56] along with English law in common law.[57] For example, elements of the Magna Carta in it contain provisions on criminal law that were incorporated into the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. It as well as other documents had elements influencing and incorporated into the United States Constitution.[58]

Icons and symbols[]

Dean Franklin - 06.04

Mount Rushmore was sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum. Sculptures of the heads of former U.S. presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln. It has become an iconic symbol of the United States.[59]

American flag[]

  • Flag of the United States – Based on the first flag of the United States of America the Grand Union Flag was first flown on December 2, 1775.

Cuisine[]

  • Apple pieNew England was the first region to experience large-scale English colonization in the early 17th century, beginning in 1620, and it was dominated by East Anglian Calvinists, better known as the Puritans. Baking was a particular favorite of the New Englanders and was the origin of dishes seen today as quintessentially "American", such as apple pie and the oven-roasted Thanksgiving turkey.[60] "As American as apple pie" is a well-known phrase used to suggest that something is all-American.
  • Hamburger – Invented in the United States and known as "Hamburger" after German immigrants from Hamburg who named the unnamed food,[61] this cultural and widely known icon has trans international reach and has been internationally known for decades as a symbol of American fast food.
  • Maxwell Street Polish – Consists of a grilled or fried length of Polish sausage topped with grilled onions and yellow mustard and optional pickled whole, green sport peppers, served on a bun. The sandwich traces its origins to Chicago's Maxwell Street market, and has been called one of "the classic foods synonymous with Chicago".[62]
  • Buffalo wings – Created in Buffalo, New York in the 1970s this dish is chicken wings glazed and dipped in vinegar hot sauce and butter with cayenne pepper and spices until hot and tasty. Now popular all over the country it has become a symbol of American cuisine.

Thanksgiving[]

  • Thanksgiving – In the United States, it has become a national secular holiday (official since 1863) with religious origins. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by English settlers to give thanks to God and the Native Americans for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive the brutal winter.[63] The modern Thanksgiving holiday traces its origins from a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the Plymouth settlers held a harvest feast with the Native Americans after a successful growing season. William Bradford is credited as the first to proclaim the American cultural event which is generally referred to as the "First Thanksgiving".

Sports[]

  • Baseball – The earliest recorded game of base-ball involved none other than the family of the Prince of Wales, played indoors in London in November 1748. The Prince is reported as playing "Bass-Ball" again in September 1749 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, against Lord Middlesex.[64]

English lawyer William Bray recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford, Surrey; Bray's diary was verified as authentic in September 2008.[65][66] This early form of the game was apparently brought to North America by English immigrants. The first appearance of the term that exists in print was in "A Little Pretty Pocket-Book" in 1744, where it is called Base-Ball. Today, Rounders which has been played in England since Tudor times holds a similarity to Baseball. Although, literary references to early forms of "base-ball" in England pre-date use of the term "rounders".[67]

  • American football – can be traced to modified early versions of rugby football played in England and Canadian football mixed with and ultimately changed by American innovations which led over time to the finished version of the game from 1876 to now. The basic set of rules were first developed in American universities in the mid-19th century.[68]

Music[]

Another area of cultural influence are American Patriotic songs:

  • American National Anthem – takes its melody from the 18th-century English song "To Anacreon in Heaven" written by John Stafford Smith from England for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London and lyrics written by Francis Scott Key. This became a well-known and recognized patriotic song throughout the United States, which was officially designated as the American national anthem in 1931.[69][70][71]

Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom.

  • Amazing Grace – written by English poet and clergyman John Newton. Popular among African Americans, it became an icon in American culture and has been used for a variety of secular purposes and marketing campaigns.[72]
  • Hail, Columbia – initial presidential inauguration song up until early 20th century. Now used for the Vice President.
  • Battle Hymn of the Republic – Patriotic song sung during the civil war time between 1861 and 1865.

Industry[]

  • BuickDavid Dunbar Buick was a Scottish-born American, a Detroit-based inventor, best known for founding the Buick Motor Company.
  • ChevroletLouis Chevrolet was a Swiss-born American race car driver who co-founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in 1911.
  • Harley-Davidson – The Davidson brothers were of Scottish descent (William. A., Walter and Arthur Davidson) and William S. Harley of English descent. Along with Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company was the largest and most recognizable American motorcycle manufacturer.[73]

Notes[]

  • Jewish Americans, particularly those of Ashkenazi and Sephardi descent, are a diaspora population with origins in South Western Asia, but are often classified as White rather than Asian. In addition, all of the original peoples of the Middle East are classified as White by the US Census Bureau.[74][75]
  • Gypsy Americans are a diaspora group with origins in the Indian Subcontinent, but are sometimes classified as European.

Notable people[]

Presidents of European descent[]

Most of the heritage that all 44 US Presidents come from (or in some combination thereof): is British (English, Scottish, Scotch-Irish or Welsh) ancestry. Others include John F. Kennedy of Irish descent, Martin Van Buren of Dutch descent and two presidents whose fathers were of German descent: Dwight D. Eisenhower (whose original family name was Eisenhauer) and Herbert Hoover (Huber). Later US Presidents' ancestry can often be traced to ancestors from multiple nations in Europe.[76]

1st George Washington 1789–1797 (English through great-grandfather John Washington, German through maternal grandfather Joseph Matthäus Ball, French through great-great-great-grandfather Nicolas Martiau)
2nd John Adams 1797–1801 (English)
3rd Thomas Jefferson 1801–1809 (Welsh, Scotch-English)
4th James Madison 1809–1817 (English)
5th James Monroe 1817–1825 (Scottish)
6th John Quincy Adams 1825–1829 (English)
7th Andrew Jackson 1829–1837 (Scotch-Irish)
8th Martin Van Buren 1837–1841 (Dutch)
9th William Henry Harrison 1841 (English)
10th John Tyler 1841–1845 (English)
11th James Knox Polk 1845–1849 (Scotch-Irish)
12th Zachary Taylor 1849–1850 (English)
13th Millard Fillmore 1850–1853 (Scottish, English)
14th Franklin Pierce 1853–1857 (English)
15th James Buchanan 1857–1861 (Scotch-Irish)
16th Abraham Lincoln 1861–1865 (Welsh, English through ancestor Samuel Lincoln)
17th Andrew Johnson 1865–1869 (Scotch-Irish, English)
18th Ulysses Simpson Grant 1869–1877 (Scotch-Irish, English, Scottish, Walloon)
19th Rutherford Birchard Hayes 1877–1881 (English, Scottish)
20th James Abram Garfield 1881 (Welsh, English, French)
21st Chester Alan Arthur 1881–1885 (Scotch-Irish, English)
22nd Grover Cleveland 1885–1889 (English, Anglo-Irish, German)
23rd Benjamin Harrison 1889–1893 (Scotch-Irish, English)
24th Grover Cleveland 1893–1897 (English, Anglo-Irish, German)

25th William McKinley 1897–1901 (Scotch-Irish, English)
26th Theodore Roosevelt 1901–1909 (Dutch, Scotch-Irish, Scottish, English, Walloon)
27th William Howard Taft 1909–1913 (Scotch-Irish, English)
28th Woodrow Wilson 1913–1921 (Scotch-Irish, Scottish)
29th Warren Gamaliel Harding 1921–1923 (Scotch-Irish, English)
30th Calvin Coolidge 1923–1929 (English)
31st Herbert Clark Hoover 1929–1933 (German, Swiss, English)
32nd Franklin D. Roosevelt 1933–1945 (Dutch, Walloon, English)
33rd Harry S. Truman 1945–1953 (English, German, Scotch-Irish)
34th Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953–1961 (German, Swiss)
35th John F. Kennedy 1961–1963 (Irish)
36th Lyndon B. Johnson 1963–1969 (English)
37th Richard Nixon 1969–1974 (English, Scotch-Irish, Irish, German)
38th Gerald Ford 1974–1977 (English)
39th Jimmy Carter 1977–1981 (English, Scotch-Irish)
40th Ronald Reagan 1981–1989 (Irish, Scottish, English)
41st George H. W. Bush 1989–1993 (English, German, Scotch-Irish, Dutch, Swedish)
42nd Bill Clinton 1993–2001 (Scotch-Irish, English)
43rd George W. Bush 2001–2009 (English, German, Scotch-Irish, Dutch, Swedish, Welsh)
44th Barack Obama 2009–2017 (English, Irish, German through his mother Ann Dunham)
45th Donald Trump 2017–2021 (German, Scottish)
46th Joe Biden 2021-present (English, Irish, French)

Admixture in Non-Hispanic Whites[]

Some White Americans have varying amounts of American Indian and Sub-Saharan African ancestry. In a recent study, Gonçalves et al. 2007 reported Sub-Saharan and Amerindian mtDna lineages at a frequency of 3.1% (respectively 0.9% and 2.2%) in American Caucasians (Please note that in the USA, "Caucasian" includes people from North Africa and Western Asia as well as Europeans).[77] Recent research on Y-chromosomes and mtDNA detected no African admixture in European-Americans. The sample included 628 European-American Y-chromosomes and mtDNA from 922 European-Americans[78]

DNA analysis on White Americans by geneticist Mark D. Shriver showed an average of 0.7% Sub-Saharan African admixture and 3.2% Native American admixture.[79] The same author, in another study, claimed that about 30% of all White Americans, approximately 66 million people, have a median of 2.3% of Black African admixture.[80] Later, Shriver retracted his statement, saying that actually around 5% of White Americans exhibit some detectable level of African ancestry.[81]

From the 23andMe database, about 5 to at least 13 percent of self-identified White American Southerners have greater than 1 percent African ancestry.[82] Southern states with the highest African American populations, tended to have the highest percentages of hidden African ancestry.[83] White Americans (European Americans) on average are: "98.6 percent European, 0.19 percent African and 0.18 percent Native American." Inferred British/Irish ancestry is found in European Americans from all states at mean proportions of above 20%, and represents a majority of ancestry, above 50% mean proportion, in states such as Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Scandinavian ancestry in European Americans is highly localized; most states show only trace mean proportions of Scandinavian ancestry, while it comprises a significant proportion, upwards of 10%, of ancestry in European Americans from Minnesota and the Dakotas.[82][83]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Germany in this time period consisted of a large number of separate countries, the largest of which was Prussia.
  2. ^ The Other category probably contains mostly English ancestry settlers; but the loss of several states' census records in makes closer estimates difficult. The summaries of the 1790 and 1800 census from all states surveyed.
  3. ^ Total represents total immigration over the approximately 130-year span of colonial existence of the U.S. colonies as found in the 1790 census. At the time of the American Revolution the foreign born population was estimated to be from 300,000 to 400,000.

References[]

  1. ^ "Euro-American". Merriam Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/euro-american. Retrieved March 13, 2014. 
  2. ^ a b Ethnic Groups of the Americas: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia: By James B. Minahan – Americans of European descent (Page: 17-18)
  3. ^ "A Spanish Expedition Established St. Augustine in Florida". Library of Congress. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_augustin_1.html. Retrieved 2009-03-27. 
  4. ^ "Latino Chronology". google.co.uk. https://books.google.com/books?id=TWX5d27NkFgC&pg=PT35. Retrieved February 4, 2015. 
  5. ^ SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES Archived 2017-01-29 at the Wayback Machine - 2016 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates
  6. ^ Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America By Dominic J. Pulera.
  7. ^ Farley, Reynolds (1991). "The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?". Demography 28 (3): 414, 421. DOI:10.2307/2061465. 
  8. ^ Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, "The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns", Social Science Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44-6.
  9. ^ Stanley Lieberson and Mary C. Waters, "Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 487, No. 79 (September 1986), pp. 82-86.
  10. ^ a b c d "Official census statistics of the United States race and Hispanic origin population" (PDF). US Statistics Bureau. Archived from the original on 2010-02-25. https://www.webcitation.org/5noJf4U1Q?url=http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0056/tab01.pdf. 
  11. ^ Karen R. Humes; Nicholas A. Jones; Roberto R. Ramirez (March 2011). "Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010" (PDF). US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf. Retrieved 11 March 2016. 
  12. ^ "A Test of Methods For Collecting Racial and Ethnic Information: May 1995" (Press release). CPS Publications. October 26, 1995. Archived from the original on December 12, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111212044012/http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/pub/ethnic_0595.htm. Retrieved March 24, 2015. 
  13. ^ Sandra Soo-Jin Lee; Joanna Mountain; Barbara A. Koenig (May 24, 2001). "The Meanings of Race in the New Genomics: Implications for Health Disparities Research" (PDF). Yale University. p. 54. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204116/http://www.yale.edu/yjhple/issues/vi-spr01/docs/lee.pdf. Retrieved March 11, 2016. 
  14. ^ a b c d e Randolph, Gayle (2007). "Why Study European Immigrants". Iowa State University. http://frontpage.uwsuper.edu/Soc330b/Chap11_files/frame.htm. Retrieved June 14, 2007. 
  15. ^ Crevecoeur, Hector St. John. Letters from an American Farmer. "What is an American." 1782.
  16. ^ Bhopal, Raj. (1998). "White, European, Western, Caucasian or What? Inappropriate Labeling in Research on Race, Ethnicity and Health". Am J Public Health 88 (9): 1303–7. DOI:10.2105/ajph.88.9.1303. PMID 9736867. 
  17. ^ Adair, Margo (1990). "Challenging White Supremacy Workshop". cwsworkshop.org. http://cwsworkshop.org/pdfs/WIWP2/3Wonder_Breading.PDF. Retrieved November 5, 2006. 
  18. ^ Data From Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPS).
  19. ^ The source: a guidebook to American genealogy. By Loretto Dennis Szucs, Sandra Hargreaves Luebking
  20. ^ "The New Americans". google.co.uk. https://books.google.com/books?id=z-y_q4J_eCEC&pg=PA15&dq=52+million+europeans+immigrated+to+united+states&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2015-02-04. 
  21. ^ Campbell Gibson; Kay Jung (February 2006). "Population Division: Historical census statistics on the foreign-born population of the United States: 1850 to 2000 (Working Paper No. 81)" (PDF). US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0081/twps0081.pdf. Retrieved 11 March 2016. 
  22. ^ Elizabeth M. Grieco; Yesenia D. Acosta; G. Patricia de la Cruz; Christine Gambino; Thomas Gryn; Luke J. Larsen; Edward N. Trevelyan; Nathan P. Walters (May 2012). "The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2010" (PDF). US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf. Retrieved 11 March 2016. 
  23. ^ "Foreign-Born Population by Country of Birth: 1960, 1970, 1980, and 1990 plus 2000, 2006–2011" (XLSX). Migration Policy Institute. http://www.migrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/datahub/MPIDataHub-Region-birth-1960.xlsx. Retrieved 11 March 2016. 
  24. ^ United States Demographics & Social Archived 2016-07-06 at the Wayback Machine 2015% Foreign-Born population in the United States
  25. ^ Raymond L. Cohn (August 15, 2001). "Immigration to the United States". EH.Net Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on January 13, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060113114938/http://www.eh.net/encyclopedia/article/cohn.immigration.us. Retrieved March 24, 2015. 
  26. ^ "MPI Data Hub Graph". migrationinformation.org. Archived from the original on April 22, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070422114514/http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/charts/fb.2.shtml. Retrieved March 24, 2015. 
  27. ^ Loretto Dennis Szucs; Sandra Hargreaves Luebking (2006). The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy. Ancestry Publishing. p. 367. ISBN 978-1-59331-277-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=Jw3kn_AgNTkC&pg=PA367. Retrieved March 11, 2016. 
  28. ^ Elizabeth M. Grieco; Yesenia D. Acosta; G. Patricia de la Cruz; Christine Gambino; Thomas Gryn; Luke J. Larsen; Edward N. Trevelyan; Nathan P. Walters (May 2012). "The Foreign-Born Population in the United States: 2010" (PDF). US Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf. Retrieved 11 March 2016. 
  29. ^ The map shows one of the most commonly accepted delineations of the geographical boundaries of Europe, as used by National Geographic and Encyclopædia Britannica. Whether countries are considered in Europe or Asia can vary in sources, for example in the classification of the CIA World Factbook or that of the BBC. Note also that certain countries in Europe, such as France, have territories lying geographically outside Europe, but which are nevertheless considered integral parts of that country.
  30. ^ Statistical Abstract of the United States (Page: 98) Immigration from 1820
  31. ^ Almost All Aliens: Immigration, Race, and Colonialism in American History ... By Paul Spickard
  32. ^ Statistical Abstract of the United States (Page: 89)
  33. ^ Statistical Abstract of the United States Immigration by country of origin 1851–1940 (Page: 107)
  34. ^ Statistical Abstract of the United States (Page: 92)
  35. ^ Public Opinion and the Immigrant: Mass Media Coverage, 1880–1980 Archived 2015-08-13 at the Wayback Machine Rita James Simon
  36. ^ Wagner, Francis S; Wagner-Jones, Christina (1985). Nation-building in the United States. ISBN 978-0-912404-12-7. https://books.google.com/?id=phsWAQAAIAAJ&q=Nation-building+in+the+United+States&dq=Nation-building+in+the+United+States. 
  37. ^ "European emigration statistics". Archived from the original on 2000-08-24. https://web.archive.org/web/20000824084542/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEStotalS.htm. 
  38. ^ "Yearbook of Immigration Statistics: 2011 Supplemental Table 2". U.S. Department of Homeland Security. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/table2_2.xls. Retrieved 2013-02-23. 
  39. ^ "PLACE OF BIRTH FOR THE FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Universe: Foreign-born population excluding population born at sea". factfinder.census.gov. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_1YR_B05006&prodType=table. Retrieved 2018-04-23. 
  40. ^ Farley, Reynolds (1991). "The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?". Demography 28 (3): 411–429. DOI:10.2307/2061465. 
  41. ^ World Culture Encyclopedia EveryCulture.com Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
  42. ^ "www.census.gov Persons Who Reported at Least One Specific Ancestry Group for the United States: 1980". https://www.census.gov/population/censusdata/pc80-s1-10/tab02.pdf. 
  43. ^ "Rank of States for Selected Ancestry Groups with 100,00 or more persons: 1980". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/files/pc80-s1-10/tab04.pdf. Retrieved 30 November 2012. 
  44. ^ "1990 Census of Population Detailed Ancestry Groups for States". United States Census Bureau. 18 September 1992. https://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cp-s/cp-s-1-2.pdf. Retrieved 30 November 2012. 
  45. ^ "Ancestry: 2000". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_00_SF3_QTP13&prodType=table. Retrieved 30 November 2012. 
  46. ^ American FactFinder Archived August 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Ancestry: 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates
  47. ^ Ancestry: Archived August 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates
  48. ^ HISPANIC OR LATINO ORIGIN BY SPECIFIC ORIGIN. Archived 2015-03-30 at the Wayback Machine Universe: Total population more information: 2014 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates
  49. ^ David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed (Oxford University Press, 1989), p. 6
  50. ^ Hackett Fischer, David. Albion's Seed Oxford University Press, 1989.
  51. ^ Kirk, Russell. The Heritage Lecture Series. "America Should Strengthen its European Cultural Roots." Washington D.C:1949
  52. ^ Carey, Bjorn (19 February 2006). "First Americans may have been European". Life Science. http://www.livescience.com/7043-americans-european.html. Retrieved August 10, 2007. 
  53. ^ Conner, Steve, Science Editor (3 December 2002). "Does skull prove that the first Americans came from Europe?". utexas.edu. Archived from the original on 2004-03-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20040302011546/http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/ant322m_files/1stpersons.htm. Retrieved August 14, 2007. 
  54. ^ Earliest humans in the Americas: new evidence from Mexico, Journal of Human Evolution 44, 379-387.
  55. ^ (2008) "Mitochondrial Population Genomics Supports a Single Pre-Clovis Origin with a Coastal Route for the Peopling of the Americas". The American Journal of Human Genetics 82 (3): 583–592. DOI:10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.11.013. ISSN 0002-9297. PMID 18313026. 
  56. ^ Separation of powers#Checks and balances
  57. ^ "Features – Sources of United States of America Legal Information in Languages Other than English – LLRX.com". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140249/http://www.llrx.com/features/otherthanenglish.htm. Retrieved 17 March 2015. 
  58. ^ "Magna Charta – Magna Charta". http://law.jrank.org/pages/11657/Magna-Charta.html. Retrieved 17 March 2015. 
  59. ^ Mount Rushmore National Memorial Archived 2011-09-02 at the Wayback Machine. December 6, 2005.60 SD Web Traveler, Inc. Retrieved April 7, 2006.
  60. ^ Fischer, pp. 74, 114, 134–39.
  61. ^ according to a theory; see Hamburger
  62. ^ Clark, Sandy Thorne. (2006-6-26), "Getting a taste of Chicago: City's signature flavors have tourists and locals lining up for more, more, more", Chicago Sun-Times, S1.
  63. ^ William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation 1620–1647, 85
  64. ^ Sulat, Nate (2013-07-26). "Why isn't baseball more popular in the UK?". BBC News Online (New York). https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23425907. Retrieved 2018-03-01. 
  65. ^ "UK – England – Baseball 'origin' uncovered". BBC. 2008-09-17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7622026.stm. Retrieved 2015-02-04. 
  66. ^ "BBC – South Today – Features – Baseball history". BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/southtoday/content/articles/2008/09/09/baseball_feature.shtml. 
  67. ^ Telegraph staff and agencies (11 September 2008). "Major League Baseball told: Your sport is British, not American". The Daily Telegraph (London). https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/baseball/2799671/Major-League-Baseball-told-Your-sport-is-British-not-American.html. 
  68. ^ "The New American Sport History". google.co.uk. https://books.google.com/books?id=dhBw1RpvhLwC&pg=PA89. Retrieved 2015-02-04. 
  69. ^ "John Stafford Smith: Composer of the Star Spangled Banner". visit-gloucestershire.co.uk. Archived from the original on July 11, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070711181457/http://www.visit-gloucestershire.co.uk/gloucester/smith.htm. 
  70. ^ "Fort McHenry: Birthplace of Our National Anthem". bcpl.net. Archived from the original on July 21, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070721004503/http://www.bcpl.net/~etowner/anthem.html. 
  71. ^ Lesley Nelson. "Star Spangled Banner". contemplator.com. http://www.contemplator.com/america/ssbanner.html. Retrieved 2015-02-04. 
  72. ^ "Amazing Grace". NPR. 29 December 2002. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=894060. Retrieved 24 March 2015. 
  73. ^ "Harley: The Littleport Connection "Without Littleport, there'd be no Harley-Davidson"". clutchandchrome.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20060421100954/http://clutchandchrome.com/Articles/Littleport.htm. Retrieved March 24, 2015. 
  74. ^ "No Evidence from Genome-Wide Data of a Khazar Origin for the Ashkenazi Jews" (PDF). http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1040&context=humbiol_preprints. Retrieved 2015-02-04. 
  75. ^ "Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans" (PDF). https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1312/1312.6639.pdf. Retrieved 2015-02-04. 
  76. ^ "The Presidents". americanheritage.com. Archived from the original on 2006-02-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20060210002715/http://www.americanheritage.com/people/presidents/. 
  77. ^ Sample of 1387 American Caucasian individuals catalogued in the FBI mtDNA population database, Gonçalves et al. 2007, Sex-biased gene flow in African Americans but not in American Caucasians Archived 2017-11-08 at the Wayback Machine
  78. ^ Manfred Kayser et al. 2003, Y Chromosome STR Haplotypes and the Genetic Structure of U.S. Populations of African, European, and Hispanic Ancestry Archived 2018-07-09 at the Wayback Machine
  79. ^ Shriver, et al., "Skin pigmentation, biogeographical ancestry and admixture mapping Archived 2014-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, Hum Genet (2003) 112 : 387–39.
  80. ^ Sailer, Steve (May 8, 2002). "Analysis: White prof finds he's not.". United Press International. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2002/05/08/Analysis-White-prof-finds-hes-not-2/UPI-53561020909970. 
  81. ^ Wootan, Jim (December 2003). "Race Reversal Man Lives as 'Black' for 50 Years – Then Finds Out He's Probably Not". ABC News. Archived from the original on August 3, 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20040803055203/http://abcnews.go.com/sections/Nightline/SciTech/racial_identity_031228.html. 
  82. ^ a b Template:Cite biorxiv
  83. ^ a b Scott Hadly, "Hidden African Ancestry Redux", DNA USA* Archived 2015-03-22 at the Wayback Machine, 23andMe, March 4, 2014.

External links[]

Template:European diasporas Template:White people

Advertisement