The Diversity of Americans Ch. 1 Sec. 1

What is Civics? Civics is the study of the rights and duties of citizens. List some rights and duties of citizens: Rights are things you can do Duties are things you must do

What is a citizen? A citizen is a person who owes loyalty to and is entitled to the protection of a government. The concept of citizenship began in Greece & Rome more than 2500 years ago

E pluribus unum??? Written on the back of every American coin Means: “out of many, one” The current US population is more than 308 million (2010 Census) The United States is a Nation of Immigrants

Discuss in small groups: What is your family heritage? Where do you come from? Why did your ancestors immigrate to the United States?

Early Immigration… Early 1600’s the French settled in Canada and the English settled on the east coast 1700’s Immigrants came from Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Scotland, & Sweden

Immigration after Independence... 1830’s: 600,000 immigrants 1850’s: 2 million immigrants 1860-1890 : 10 million European immigrants

Immigration shifts… From 1890 to 1924 there were about 22 million immigrants mostly from southern & eastern Europe In the last 50 years Latin Americans are the largest group of immigrants

Involuntary immigrants?... What group came to America unwillingly? Enslaved Africans 500,000 from 1619 to 1808 What happened in 1808 to stop it? It became illegal to bring slaves into the US

Diversity… America has a very diverse ethnic/racial/cultural population We are a “tossed salad” not a “melting pot”! Europeans and Africans Asian and Pacific Islanders Native Americans and Latinos

Religious diversity: More than 200 million people practice some form of Christianity Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists Those who don’t practice any religion Which amendment allows such freedom? Everyone is free to worship according to their conscience.

Movement inside the country Mid -1800’s people began moving from rural areas to cities Why? To work in factories and support industries (stores, schools, housing)- “blue collar” Also, service industry jobs- law, medicine, teaching- “white collar”

Post Civil War migration A mass movement of former slaves from the South to the North following the Civil War Today, the South and West have the fastest growing populations

Other population changes today: Average age is growing More are earning college and graduate degrees Latinos are the fastest growing ethnic group Latinos and other minority groups will soon be in the majority

American Values & Institutions Values are the ideas about what is good or desirable, and are shared by people in a society Ex of basic American values: freedom, equality, opportunity, justice, democracy, unity, respect, and tolerance

Other shared values… A common political history based on our founding documents The Declaration of Independence, The US Constitution, The Bill of Rights A single language: English p. 12 Popular Sovereignty- government by consent of the governed

American Institutions… Institutions are sets of ideas that people have about relationships, obligations, roles, and functions. Family is the most important American institution!

Other American institutions… Religious institutions Educational institutions Social institutions Governmental institutions See quote on p. 13

Turn to the political cartoon on p. 12

Writing assignment: How did America change immigrants? How did immigrants change the United States?