This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2023) |
Total population | |
---|---|
133 million European-diaspora Americans 41% of total US population (2017)[1][a] (as opposed to 235.4 million Americans identifying as White in combination with other races and 204.3 million self-identifying as white)[2] 61.6% of the total US population (2020) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Contiguous United States and Alaska smaller populations in Hawaii and the territories[citation needed] | |
Languages | |
Predominantly English, but also other languages of Europe[citation needed] | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Christianity (Mainly Protestantism and Roman Catholicism); Minority religions: Judaism, Mormonism, Islam, Neo-Paganism, Irreligion, Atheism[citation needed] |
European Americans are Americans of European ancestry.[3][4] This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since the 17th century, European Americans have been the largest panethnic group in what is now the United States.
The Spaniards are thought to have been 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,[5][6] and the Russians were the first Europeans to settle in Alaska, establishing Russian America. The first English child born in the Americas was Virginia Dare, born August 18, 1587. She was born in Roanoke Colony, located in present-day North Carolina, which was the first attempt, made during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, to establish a permanent English settlement in North America.
In the 2020 United States census, British Americans (58 million), German Americans (45 million), Irish Americans (38 million), Italian Americans (17 million) and Polish Americans (9 million) were the five largest self-reported European ancestry groups in the United States.[7]
The 2020 census was the first census to allow data collection on subtypes of Europeans. During previous surveys, the number of people with British ancestry was considered to be significantly under-counted, as many people in that demographic tended to identify themselves simply as Americans (20,151,829 or 7.2%).[8][9][10][11] A 2015 genetic study of 148,789 European Americans concluded that British ancestry was the most common European ancestry among white Americans, with this component ranging between 20% and 55% of the total population in all 50 states.[12] The same applies to Americans of Spanish ancestry, as many people in that demographic tend to identify themselves as Hispanic and Latino Americans (58,846,134 or 16.6%), even though they carry a mean of 65.1% European genetic ancestry, mainly from Spain.[13]
An increasing number of people ignored the ancestry question or chose no specific ancestral group such as "American or United States". In the 2000 census this represented over 56.1 million or 19.9% of the United States population, an increase from 26.2 million (10.5%) in 1990 and 38.2 million (16.9%) in 1980 and are specified as "unclassified" and "not reported".[14][15]
Number of European Americans from 1800 to 2010 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Population | % of the United States | Ref(s) | |
1800 | 4,306,446 | 81.1% | ||
1850 | 19,553,068 | 84.3% | ||
1900 | 66,809,196 | 87.9% | ||
1950 | 134,942,028 | 89.5% | ||
2000 | 211,460,626 | 75.1% | ||
2010 | 223,553,265 | 72.4% |
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 a distant third, preferred by only 2.35% of panel interviewees, as opposed to White, which was preferred by 61.66%.[16]
The term is sometimes used interchangeably with Caucasian American, White American, and Anglo-American in the United States.[17]
In contexts such as medical research, terms such as "white" and "European" have been criticized for vagueness and blurring important distinctions between different groups that happen to fit within the label.[18] Margo Adair suggests that viewing Americans of European descent as a single group contributes to the "wonder-breading" of the United States, eradicating the cultural heritage of individual European ethnicities.[19]
There are several subgroupings of European Americans.[20] While these categories may be approximately defined, often due to the imprecise or cultural regionalization of Europe, the subgroups are nevertheless used widely in cultural or ethnic identification.[21] This is particularly the case in diasporic populations, as with European people in the United States generally.[22] In alphabetical order, some of the subgroups are:
Historical immigration estimates[23][24] | ||
---|---|---|
Country | Immigration before 1790 |
Ancestry 1790 |
England* | 230,000 | 1,900,000 |
Ulster Scotch-Irish* | 135,000 | 320,000 |
Germany[b] | 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[c] | 500 | 20,000 |
*Totals, British | 417,500 | 2,500,000+ |
United States[d] | 950,000 | 3,929,214 |
Before the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans predominantly inhabited the United States. The earliest Europeans to colonize North America were the Spaniards. The first Spanish colonization was in 1565 at St. Augustine, Florida.[25] One of the most significant Spanish explorers was Hernando De Soto, a conquistador who accompanied Francisco Pizzaro during his conquest of the Inca Empire.
Leaving Havana, Cuba, in 1539, De Soto's expedition landed in Florida. It explored the southeastern area of the United States. They reached as far as the Mississippi River in search of riches and fortune. Another Spaniard who explored the United States, Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, set out from New Spain in 1540 in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. Coronado's expedition traveled to Kansas and the Grand Canyon but failed to discover gold or treasure. However, Coronado left a gift of horses to the Plains Indians. Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano and Frenchman Jacques Cartier are other Europeans who explored the United States. The Spaniards viewed the French as threatening their trade route along the Gulf Stream.[26]
Since 1607, some 57 million immigrants from other lands have come to the United States. Approximately 10 million passed through on their way to some other place or returned to their homelands, leaving a net gain of 47 million people.[27]
Before 1881, the vast majority of immigrants, almost 86% of the total, arrived from Northwestern Europe, principally Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia, known as "Old Immigration". Between 1881 and 1893, the pattern shifted in the sources of U.S. "New Immigration." Between 1894 and 1914, immigrants from Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe accounted for 69% of the total.[28][29][30] Prior to 1960, the overwhelming majority came from Europe or of European descent from Canada. Immigration from Europe as a proportion of new arrivals has declined 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.[31]
European immigration to the U.S. 1820–1970[32][33][34][35][36] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | 35,679,763 |
Country of origin 1820–1978[37][38][39] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | 1.5% |
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 | 34,318,000 |
The figures below show that of the total population of the specified birthplace in the United States, 11.1% were born overseas.
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:[40][31][41][42] |
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 | 669,794 | 1.7% | 696,896 | 1.6% | |
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 | 604,616 | 1.5% | 563,985 | 1.3% | |
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 | 364,972 | 0.9% | 335,763 | 0.8% | |
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 | 475,503 | 1.2% | 424,928 | 1.0% | |
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[43]
|
This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2024) |
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".[45]
Ethnic origin | 1980 / %[46] | 1990 / %[47][48] | 2000 / %[49] | 2020 / %[50][51] | change 2000–2020 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States pop. | 226,545,805 | 100.0 | 248,709,873 | 100.0 | 281,421,906 | 100.0 | 331,449,281 | 100.0 | 7.4% |
At least one ancestry reported |
188,302,438 | 83.1 | 224,788,502 | 90.4 | 225,310,411 | 80.1 | TBA | TBA | |
Acadian/Cajun | — | — | 668,271 | 0.3 | 85,414 | 0.0 | 132,624 | 0.1 | |
Albanian | 38,658 | 0.02 | 47,710 | 0.0 | 113,661 | 0.0 | 236,635 | 0.1 | |
Alsatian | 42,390 | 0.02 | 16,465 | 0.0 | 15,601 | 0.0 | 12,056 | 0.00 | |
American[e] | 13,298,761 | 5.9 | 12,395,999 | 5.0 | 20,625,093 | 7.3 | - | - | |
Austrian | 948,558 | 0.42 | 864,783 | 0.3 | 735,128 | 0.3 | 697,425 | 0.3 | |
Basque | 43,140 | 0.0 | 47,956 | 0.0 | 57,793 | 0.0 | 52,559 | 0.0 | |
Bavarian | — | — | 4,348 | 0.0 | - | - | - | - | - |
Belarusian | 7,381 | 0.00 | 4,277 | 0.0 | - | - | 67,599 | 0.0 | |
Belgian | 360,277 | 0.16 | 380,498[f] | 0.2 | 360,642 | 0.1 | 384,224 | 0.2 | |
British | — | — | 1,119,154 | 0.4 | 1,085,720 | 0.4 | 860,315 | 0.4 | |
British Islander | — | — | — | — | — | — | 43,654 | 0.0 | |
Bulgarian | 42,504 | 0.02 | 29,595 | 0.0 | 55,489 | 0.0 | 102,968 | 0.0 | |
Carpatho Rusyn | — | — | 7,602 | 0.0 | 9,747 | 0.00 | |||
Celtic | — | — | 29,652 | 0.0 | 65,638 | 0.0 | 30,630 | 0.0 | |
Cornish | — | — | 3,991 | 0.0 | - | - | 6,257 | 0.0 | |
Croatian | 252,970 | 0.11 | 544,270 | 0.2 | 374,241 | 0.1 | 448,479 | 0.2 | |
Cypriot | 6,053 | 0.00 | 4,897 | 0.0 | 7,663 | 0.0 | 10,384 | 0.00 | |
Czech | 1,892,456 | 0.84 | 1,296,411[g] | 0.5 | 1,262,527 | 0.4 | 1,397,780 | 0.6 | |
Czechoslovakian | — | — | 315,285 | 0.1 | 441,403 | 0.2 | - | - | |
Danish | 1,518,273 | 0.67 | 1,634,669 | 0.7 | 1,430,897 | 0.5 | 1,314,209 | 0.6 | |
Dutch | 6,304,499 | 2.78 | 6,227,089 | 2.5 | 4,542,494 | 1.6 | 3,649,179 | 1.6 | |
Eastern European[h] | 62,404 | 0.03 | 132,332 | 0.1 | - | - | - | - | |
English | 49,598,035 | 21.89 | 32,651,788 | 13.1 | 24,515,138 | 8.7 | 46,550,968 | 19.8 | |
Estonian | 25,994 | 0.01 | 26,762 | 0.0 | 25,034 | 0.0 | 30,054 | 0.0 | |
European[h] | 175,461 | 0.08 | 466,718 | 0.2 | 1,968,696 | 0.7 | - | - | |
Finnish | 615,872 | 0.27 | 658,870 | 0.3 | 623,573 | 0.2 | 684,373 | 0.3 | |
Flemish | — | — | 14,157 | 0.0 | 384,224 | 0.2 | |||
French | 12,892,246 | 5.69 | 10,320,935 | 4.1 | 8,309,908 | 3.0 | 7,994,088 | 3.4 | |
French Canadian | 780,488 | 0.34 | 2,167,127 | 0.9 | 2,349,684 | 0.8 | 933,740 | 0.4 | |
German | 49,224,146 | 21.73 | 57,947,171[i] | 23.3 | 42,885,162 | 15.2 | 44,978,546 | 19.1 | |
German Russian | — | — | 10,153 | 0.0 | 10,535 | 0.0 | |||
Greek | 959,856 | 0.42 | 1,110,373 | 0.4 | 1,153,307 | 0.4 | 568,564 | 0.2 | |
Hungarian | 1,776,902 | 0.78 | 1,582,302 | 0.6 | 1,398,724 | 0.5 | 684,373 | 0.3 | |
Icelandic | 32,586 | 0.01 | 40,529 | 0.0 | 42,716 | 0.0 | 55,602 | 0.0 | |
Irish | 40,165,702 | 17.73 | 38,735,539[j] | 15.6 | 30,528,492 | 10.8 | 38,597,428 | 16.4 | |
Italian | 12,183,692 | 5.38 | 14,664,550[k] | 5.9 | 15,723,555 | 5.6 | 16,813,235 | 7.1 | |
Latvian | 92,141 | 0.04 | 100,331 | 0.0 | 87,564 | 0.0 | 92,944 | 0.0 | |
Lithuanian | 742,776 | 0.33 | 811,865 | 0.3 | 659,992 | 0.2 | 711,089 | 0.3 | |
Luxemburger | 49,994 | 0.02 | 49,061 | 0.0 | 45,139 | 0.0 | 57,359 | 0.0 | |
Macedonian | — | — | 20,365 | 0.0 | 38,051 | 0.0 | 51,401 | 0.0 | |
Maltese | 31,645 | 0.01 | 39,600 | 0.0 | 40,159 | 0.0 | 44,874 | 0.0 | |
Manx | 9,220 | 0.00 | 6,317 | 0.0 | 6,955 | 0.0 | 8,704 | 0.0 | |
Moravian | — | — | 3,781 | 0.0 | - | - | - | - | |
Northern Irelander | 16,418 | 0.01 | 4,009 | 0.0 | 3,693 | 0.0 | 5,181 | 0.0 | |
Norwegian | 3,453,839 | 1.52 | 3,869,395 | 1.6 | 4,477,725 | 1.6 | 3,836,884 | 1.6 | |
Pennsylvania German | — | — | 305,841 | 0.1 | 255,807 | 0.1 | 169,821 | 0.1 | |
Polish | 8,228,037 | 3.63 | 9,366,106 | 3.8 | 8,977,444 | 3.2 | 8,599,601 | 3.7 | |
Portuguese | 1,024,351 | 0.45 | 1,153,351 | 0.5 | 1,177,112 | 0.4 | 1,454,262 | 0.6 | |
Prussian | — | — | 25,469 | 0.0 | - | - | - | - | |
Romanian | 315,258 | 0.14 | 365,544 | 0.1 | 367,310 | 0.1 | 416,545 | 0.2 | |
Russian | 2,781,432 | 1.23 | 2,952,987 | 1.2 | 2,652,214 | 0.9 | 2,412,131 | 1.0 | |
Saxon | — | — | 4,519 | 0.0 | — | — | — | — | |
Scandinavian | 475,007 | 0.21 | 678,880 | 0.3 | 425,099 | 0.2 | 1,217,333 | 0.5 | |
Scots-Irish | — | — | 5,617,773 | 2.3 | 4,319,232 | 1.5 | 794,478 | 0.3 | |
Scottish | 10,048,816 | 4.44 | 5,393,581 | 2.2 | 4,890,581 | 1.7 | 8,422,613 | 3.6 | |
Serbian | 100,941 | 0.04 | 116,795 | 0.0 | 140,337 | 0.0 | 204,380 | 0.1 | |
Sicilian | — | — | 50,389 | 0.0 | - | - | - | - | |
Slavic | 172,696 | 0.08 | 76,931 | 0.0 | 127,137 | 0.0 | 180,316 | 0.1 | |
Slovak | 776,806 | 0.34 | 1,882,897 | 0.8 | 797,764 | 0.3 | 691,455 | 0.3 | |
Slovenian | 126,463 | 0.06 | 124,437 | 0.1 | 176,691 | 0.1 | 196,513 | 0.1 | |
Soviet | — | — | 7,729 | 0.0 | - | - | - | - | |
Spaniard | 94,528 | 0.04 | 360,935 | 0.1 | 299,948 | 0.1 | 978,978 | 0.4 | |
Spanish | 2,686,680 | - | 2,024,004 | 0.8 | 2,187,144 | 0.8 | 866,356 | 0.4 | |
Swedish | 4,345,392 | 1.92 | 4,680,863 | 1.9 | 3,998,310 | 1.4 | 3,839,796 | 1.6 | |
Swiss | 981,543 | 0.43 | 1,045,495 | 0.4 | 911,502 | 0.3 | 946,179 | 0.4 | |
Ukrainian | 730,056 | 0.32 | 740,723 | 0.3 | 892,922 | 0.3 | 953,509 | 0.4 | |
Welsh | 1,664,598 | 0.73 | 2,033,893 | 0.8 | 1,753,794 | 0.6 | 1,977,383 | 0.8 | |
West German | — | — | 3,885 | 0.0 | - | - | - | - | |
Yugoslav | 360,174 | 0.16 | 257,994 | 0.1 | 328,547 | 0.1 | - | - |
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, Scottish and Welsh. Colonial ties to the United Kingdom spread the English language, legal system and other cultural attributes.[4]
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.[52] 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."[53]
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.[54] Since most later European Americans have assimilated into American culture, many Americans of European ancestry now generally express their personal 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.[55] Some European Americans such as Italians, Greeks, Poles, Germans, Ukrainians, Irish, and others have maintained high levels of ethnic identity. In the 1960s, the melting pot ideal to some extent gave way to increased interest in cultural pluralism, strengthening affirmations of ethnic identity among various American ethnic groups, European as well as others.[55]
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]
Another area of cultural influence are American Patriotic songs:
Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom.
Some European Americans have varying amounts of Native American and Native African ancestry. In a recent study, Gonçalves et al. 2007 reported Native African and Native American mtDna lineages at a frequency of 3.1% (respectively 0.9% and 2.2%) in European Americans, although that frequency may be scattered by region.[74]
DNA analysis on native European Americans by geneticist Mark D. Shriver showed an average of 0.7% Native African admixture and 3.2% Native American admixture.[75] The same author, in another study, claimed that about 30% of all European Americans, approximately 66 million people, have a median of 2.3% of native African admixture.[76] Later, Shriver retracted his statement, saying that actually around 5% of European Americans exhibit some detectable level of native African ancestry.[77]
From the 23andMe database, about 5 to at least 13 percent of self-identified European American Southerners have greater than 1 percent native African ancestry.[78] Southern states with the highest African American populations tended to have the highest percentages of hidden African ancestry.[79] European Americans on average are: "98.6 percent Native European, 0.19 percent Native 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.[78][79]
The 1924 act also sought to curtail the large number of eastern and southern European migrants who began entering the United States in 1890. Through the National Origins Quota formula, the act pegged future immigration at up to 2 percent of the number of foreign-born persons from a particular country already in the United States as of the 1890 census. Through race-neutral in language, the formula favored northwestern Europeans by using the 1890 census as its referent
Although many histories of immigration describe this period from the 1870s to the 1920s as one when the sources of migrants shifted from Northwest Europe to Southern and Eastern Europe - "Old Immigration" versus the "New Immigration," Northwest Europeans continued to come and stay in huge numbers.
During the heightened immigration associated with the 1880-1920 period, many doubted that the largely Southern and Eastern European newcomers would ever assimilate to the culture of the dominant groups, who were of predominantly Northwestern European origin ... Social differences between these immigrants and European Americans who were already in America were perceived as insurmountable.
(excludes African population)