The US inherited corn, pumpkin, tomatoes, chillies, and tobacco from the native population.
Given the amount of these foodstuffs that are produced today, Native Americans are probably more important to modern US culture than most European immigrant nations.
Mexican culture is more visibly influenced by its native ancestors, so via Mexicans and “Hispanics” the US also has a strong connection.
Law is a domain that has very few native-inspired aspects, probably because it traces its roots to England and the old Saxon and French traditions, but your domain is a bit special there.
One might argue that the legal system, as it was brought by the conquerors, naturally has little representation of the conquered.
I expect the answer has to do wit higher populations, easier transport, increased knowledge of emmigration opportunities via presence of the Internet, climate change, and globalization.
At bottom, it's politics. Most people in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East have a top-down, paternalistic view of government compared to western europeans and in particular Americans. So political parties who support a paternalistic government are heavily incentivized to increase immigration to gain voting power over their political rivals. It's basic math.
>If we look at the number of foreign-born residents, the 2024 estimate was the highest in the Census Bureau’s series, which stretches back to 1850. So, on that measure, the 2024 figure was unprecedented.
Illegal immigration didn't really exist in 1850, nor even a meaningful Federal immigration policy beyond Congress statutorily setting the number of years of residency required to apply for citizenship, and of course limiting it to whites. The borders were open; border checkpoints and ports of entry were years away. People came, worked, and after several years applied for citizenship at the local state court house, attesting to the number of years they'd been here.
Federal immigration policy didn't really get going until the 1870s (notwithstanding some toothless laws passed in the 1860s), and IIRC it wasn't until the 1880s that the Federal government created ports of entry to process immigrants, including creating a system to reject immigrants.
I mention this because I think the ~20 year time lag between the first wave of large scale immigration and immigration becoming a major political issue, including the rise of anti-immigration sentiments and policies, is notable. Not necessarily for anything specific, just that it's interesting how history rhymes.
Buries the fucking lede by putting this at the end
> Relative to the total population, the share of immigrants in 2024 was approximately the same as in 1890. If we only look at the last few decades, we miss this historical perspective — there have been periods where immigrants made up a similarly large share of the country.
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[ 2.0 ms ] story [ 32.0 ms ] threadNeither the foreign-born population nor the proportion of foreign-born individuals say anything about the “current immigration”.
But I guess it works, because nowhere is “immigration” defined either…
- isnt everyone else just an immigrant?
Given the amount of these foodstuffs that are produced today, Native Americans are probably more important to modern US culture than most European immigrant nations.
Mexican culture is more visibly influenced by its native ancestors, so via Mexicans and “Hispanics” the US also has a strong connection.
Law is a domain that has very few native-inspired aspects, probably because it traces its roots to England and the old Saxon and French traditions, but your domain is a bit special there.
One might argue that the legal system, as it was brought by the conquerors, naturally has little representation of the conquered.
I expect the answer has to do wit higher populations, easier transport, increased knowledge of emmigration opportunities via presence of the Internet, climate change, and globalization.
?
>If we look at the number of foreign-born residents, the 2024 estimate was the highest in the Census Bureau’s series, which stretches back to 1850. So, on that measure, the 2024 figure was unprecedented.
Inclusive of legal/illegal.
Federal immigration policy didn't really get going until the 1870s (notwithstanding some toothless laws passed in the 1860s), and IIRC it wasn't until the 1880s that the Federal government created ports of entry to process immigrants, including creating a system to reject immigrants.
I mention this because I think the ~20 year time lag between the first wave of large scale immigration and immigration becoming a major political issue, including the rise of anti-immigration sentiments and policies, is notable. Not necessarily for anything specific, just that it's interesting how history rhymes.
> Relative to the total population, the share of immigrants in 2024 was approximately the same as in 1890. If we only look at the last few decades, we miss this historical perspective — there have been periods where immigrants made up a similarly large share of the country.