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America was pretty "settled" when Italian immigrants showed up in the 1910s-20s. Or the millions of Germans in the late 1800s. Or the millions of British and Ir
by paxys 9mo ago
America was pretty "settled" when Italian immigrants showed up in the 1910s-20s. Or the millions of Germans in the late 1800s. Or the millions of British and Irish a generation before that. Not every white American has ancestors who stepped off the Mayflower. The majority are - by your own definition - immigrants.
- rayiner 9mo agoI agree that the majority of Americans are immigrants. But you said 98% above. Probably 40% of American are descended from settlers or African slaves, the people who constitute the founding population. 19th century Germans and Scandinavians are difficult to categorize. On one hand, the nation was well established by the time they came. On the other hand, they were the original settlers, creating greenfield cities, in large swaths of the country. Depending on how you count them, a majority of Americans may not have immigrant ancestry. But it’s surely a very large fraction.