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'''Americans''' are the [[Citizenship of the United States|citizens]] and [[United States nationality law|nationals]] of the [[United States|United States of America]].The United States is home to [[Race and ethnicity in the United States|people of many racial and ethnic origins]]; consequently, [[Law of the United States|American law]] does not equate [[nationality]] with [[Race (human categorization)|race]] or [[ethnicity]] but with citizenship.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cite.case.law/f3d/502/337/#p341 |title=Fernandez v. Keisler, 502 F.3d 337}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://cite.case.law/f-supp-2d/599/772/#footnote_1_3 |title=Robertson-Dewar v. Mukasey, 599 F. Supp. 2d 772}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Permanent Allegiance Law and Legal Definition |url=https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/permanent-allegiance/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The American Diaspora |journal=[[Esquire (magazine)]]}}</ref>
'''Americans''' are the [[Citizenship of the United States|citizens]] and [[United States nationality law|nationals]] of the [[United States|United States of America]].The United States is home to [[Race and ethnicity in the United States|people of many racial and ethnic origins]]; consequently, [[Law of the United States|American law]] does not equate [[nationality]] with [[Race (human categorization)|race]] or [[ethnicity]] but with citizenship.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cite.case.law/f3d/502/337/#p341 |title=Fernandez v. Keisler, 502 F.3d 337}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://cite.case.law/f-supp-2d/599/772/#footnote_1_3 |title=Robertson-Dewar v. Mukasey, 599 F. Supp. 2d 772}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Permanent Allegiance Law and Legal Definition |url=https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/permanent-allegiance/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The American Diaspora |journal=[[Esquire (magazine)]]}}</ref>


The majority of Americans or their ancestors [[Immigration to the United States|immigrated]] to the United States or are descended from people who were [[Atlantic slave trade]] as [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] within the past five centuries, with the exception of the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] population and people from [[Alaska]], [[Hawaii]], [[Puerto Rico]], [[Guam]], [[Texas]], and formerly the [[Philippines]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Lifshey|first=Adam|title=Subversions of the American Century: Filipino Literature in Spanish and the Transpacific Transformation of the United States|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z17rCgAAQBAJ|year=2015|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-05293-6|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z17rCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22the+status+of+filipinos+in+the+philippines+as+american+nationals%22&pg=PA119 119]|quote=the status of Filipinos in the Philippines as American nationals existed from 1900 to 1946|access-date=May 26, 2018|archive-date=September 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928160538/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z17rCgAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite book|author=Rick Baldoz|title=The Third Asiatic Invasion: Empire and Migration in Filipino America, 1898–1946|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J7QUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|date=28 February 2011|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-9109-7|page=174|quote=Recalling earlier debates surrounding Filipinos' naturalization status in the United States, he pointed out that U.S. courts had definitively recognized that Filipinos were American "nationals" and not "aliens".|access-date=May 28, 2018|archive-date=September 23, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923060630/https://books.google.com/books?id=J7QUCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA174|url-status=live}}<br />{{cite web |url=https://fam.state.gov/FAM/08FAM/08FAM030205.html |title=8 FAM 302.5 Special Citizenship Provisions Regarding the Philippines |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=15 May 2020 |website=Foreign Affairs Manual |publisher=United States Department of State |access-date=9 Jun 2020 |archive-date=July 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180719010406/https://fam.state.gov/FAM/08FAM/08FAM030205.html |url-status=live }}</ref> who became American through expansion of the country in the 19th century;<ref>Fiorina, Morris P., and Paul E. Peterson (2000). ''The New American Democracy''. London: Longman, p. 97. {{ISBN|0-321-07058-5}};</ref> additionally, [[American Samoa]], the [[United States Virgin Islands]], and [[Northern Mariana Islands]] came under American sovereignty in the 20th century, although American Samoans are only nationals and not citizens of the United States.<ref>U.S. Census Bureau. [https://www.census.gov/population/foreign/about/faq.html Foreign-Born Population Frequently asked Questions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117174325/https://www.census.gov/population/foreign/about/faq.html |date=November 17, 2015 }} viewed January 19, 2015. The U.S. Census Bureau uses the terms native and native born to refer to anyone born in Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.</ref><ref name="American Somoans">* {{cite news |date=March 28, 2018 |title=U.S. nationals born in American Samoa sue for citizenship |work=NBC News |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/u-s-nationals-born-american-samoa-sue-citizenship-n860721 |access-date=2018-10-01 |archive-date=September 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928134312/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/u-s-nationals-born-american-samoa-sue-citizenship-n860721 |url-status=live }}
The majority of Americans or their ancestors [[Immigration to the United States|immigrated]] to the United States or are descended from people who were [[Atlantic slave trade]] as [[Slavery in the United States|slaves]] within the past five centuries, with the exception of the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] population and people from [[Alaska]], [[Hawaii]], [[Puerto Rico]], [[Guam]], [[Texas]], and formerly the [[Philippines]],
* {{cite web |last=Mendoza |first=Moises |date=October 11, 2014 |title=How a weird law gives one group American nationality but not citizenship |url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-10-11/how-weird-law-gives-one-group-american-nationality-not-citizenship |access-date=2018-08-24 |publisher=[[Public Radio International]] |archive-date=April 1, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401190852/https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-10-11/how-weird-law-gives-one-group-american-nationality-not-citizenship |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
Despite its multi-ethnic composition,<ref name="DD">Adams, J.Q., and Pearlie Strother-Adams (2001). ''[[iarchive:dealingwithdiver0000adam|Dealing with Diversity]]''. Chicago: Kendall/Hunt. {{ISBN|0-7872-8145-X}}.</ref><ref name="Society in Focus">Thompson, William, and Joseph Hickey (2005). ''Society in Focus''. Boston: Pearson. {{ISBN|0-205-41365-X}}.</ref> the culture of the United States held in common by most Americans can also be referred to as mainstream [[Culture of the United States|American culture]], a [[Western culture]] largely derived from the traditions of [[Northern Europe|Northern]] and [[Western Europe]]an colonists, settlers, and immigrants.<ref name="DD"/> It also includes significant influences of [[African-American culture]].<ref>Holloway, Joseph E. (2005). ''Africanisms in American Culture'', 2d ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 18–38. {{ISBN|0-253-34479-4}}. Johnson, Fern L. (1999). ''Speaking Culturally: Language Diversity in the United States''. Thousand Oaks, California, London, and New Delhi: Sage, p. 116. {{ISBN|0-8039-5912-5}}.</ref> Westward expansion integrated the [[Louisiana Creole people|Creoles]] and [[Cajuns]] of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest and brought close contact with the [[culture of Mexico]]. Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and [[Southern Europe]] introduced a variety of new customs. Immigration from [[Africa]], [[History of Asian American immigration|Asia]], and [[Latin America]] has also had impact. A cultural [[melting pot]], or pluralistic [[Salad bowl (cultural idea)|salad bowl]], describes the way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics.<ref name="DD"/>
 
==Racial and ethnic groups==
==Racial and ethnic groups==
{{Main|Race and ethnicity in the United States}}
{{Main|Race and ethnicity in the United States}}
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[[File:Largest white alone or in any combination group by county in the United States. US Census 2020.jpg|thumb|275px|European ancestry in the United States by county (self-reported) in 2020]]
[[File:Largest white alone or in any combination group by county in the United States. US Census 2020.jpg|thumb|275px|European ancestry in the United States by county (self-reported) in 2020]]


People of [[Europe]]an descent, or White Americans (also referred to as [[European Americans]] and Caucasian Americans), constitute the majority of the 331&nbsp;million people living in the United States, with 191,697,647 people or 61.6% of the population in the [[2020 United States census]].{{efn|Of the foreign-born population from [[Europe]] (4,817 thousand), in 2010, 61.8% were naturalized.<ref name="fbpACS2010">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf |title=The Foreign Born Population in the United States: 2010 |last1=Grieco |first1=Elizabeth M. |last2=Acosta |first2=Yesenia D. |last3=de la Cruz |first3=G. Patricia |last4=Gamino |first4=Christina |last5=Gryn |first5=Thomas |last6=Larsen |first6=Luke J. |last7=Trevelyan |first7=Edward N. |last8=Walters |first8=Nathan P. |date=May 2012 |website=American Community Survey Reports |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=January 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150209224630/http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf |archive-date=February 9, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>}}<ref name=c2010>{{cite web |url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/redistricting-supplementary-tables/redistricting-supplementary-table-02.pdf |title=Percentage of Population and Percent Change by Race: 2010 and 2020 |access-date=September 20, 2021 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |date=March 2011 |author=Karen R. Humes |author2=Nicholas A. Jones |author3=Roberto R. Ramirez |archive-date=August 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813224122/https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/redistricting-supplementary-tables/redistricting-supplementary-table-02.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="TWP2010">{{cite web |author=Lindsay Hixson |author2=Bradford B. Hepler |author3=Myoung Ouk Kim |date=September 2011 |title=The White Population: 2010 |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-05.pdf |access-date=November 20, 2012 |work=United States Census Bureau |publisher=United States Department of Commerce |archive-date=September 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930074513/https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-05.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> They are considered people who trace their ancestry to the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.<ref name=c2010 /> [[Non-Hispanic Whites]], which only account for 57.8% of the population, are the majority in 45 states. There are five [[minority-majority state]]s: [[California]], [[Texas]], [[New Mexico]], [[Nevada]], and [[Hawaii]].<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. whites will soon be the minority in number, but not power – Baltimore Sun|periodical=[[The Baltimore Sun]]|url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0809-minority-majority-20170808-story.html|access-date=2018-01-21|archive-date=August 8, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808200616/http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-op-0809-minority-majority-20170808-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8902484 |title=Minority population surging in Texas |date=August 18, 2005 |work=NBC News |agency=Associated Press |access-date=December 7, 2009 |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231232030/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/8902484/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition, the [[Washington, D.C.|District of Columbia]] and the five inhabited [[Territories of the United States|U.S. territories]] have a non-white majority.<ref name=c2010 /> The state with the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White Americans is [[Maine]], while the state with the lowest percentage is [[Hawaii]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb12-90.html |title=Most Children Younger Than Age 1 are Minorities, Census Bureau Reports |last1=Bernstein |first1=Robert |date=May 17, 2012 |work=United States Census Bureau |publisher=United States Department of Commerce |access-date=December 16, 2012 |archive-date=May 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120518211419/https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb12-90.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
People of [[Europe]]an descent, or White Americans (also referred to as [[European Americans]] and Caucasian Americans), constitute the majority of the 331&nbsp;million people living in the United States, with 191,697,647 people or 61.6% of the population in the [[2020 United States census]].{{efn|Of the foreign-born population from [[Europe]] (4,817 thousand), in 2010, 61.8% were naturalized.<ref name="fbpACS2010">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf |title=The Foreign Born Population in the United States: 2010}}</ref>
 
Europe is the largest continent that Americans trace their ancestry to, and many claim descent from various [[Ethnic groups in Europe|European ethnic groups]].<ref>Ohio State University. Diversity Dictionary. 2006. September 4, 2006. [http://www.osu.edu/diversity/dictionary.php OSU.edu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620101442/http://www.osu.edu/diversity/dictionary.php |date=June 20, 2008 }}</ref>


The [[Spaniards]] were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the continental United States in 1565.<ref name=loc>{{cite web |url=http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_augustin_1.html |title=A Spanish Expedition Established St. Augustine in Florida |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=March 27, 2009 |archive-date=October 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010022552/http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_augustin_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The [[Spaniards]] were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the continental United States in 1565.<ref name=loc>{{cite web |url=http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_augustin_1.html |title=A Spanish Expedition Established St. Augustine in Florida |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=March 27, 2009 |archive-date=October 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010022552/http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_augustin_1.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Revision as of 08:07, 23 December 2024

Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.The United States is home to people of many racial and ethnic origins; consequently, American law does not equate nationality with race or ethnicity but with citizenship.[1][2][3][4]

The majority of Americans or their ancestors immigrated to the United States or are descended from people who were Atlantic slave trade as slaves within the past five centuries, with the exception of the Native American population and people from Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, Texas, and formerly the Philippines,

Racial and ethnic groups

Template:Main Template:Bar box

The United States is a diverse country, both racially and ethnically.[5] Six races are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes: Alaska Native and American Indian, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, White, and people of two or more races. "Some other race" is also an option in the census and other surveys.[6][7][8]

The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifies Hispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that comprises the largest minority group in the nation.[6][7][8]

White and European Americans

European ancestry in the United States by county (self-reported) in 2020

People of European descent, or White Americans (also referred to as European Americans and Caucasian Americans), constitute the majority of the 331 million people living in the United States, with 191,697,647 people or 61.6% of the population in the 2020 United States census.{{efn|Of the foreign-born population from Europe (4,817 thousand), in 2010, 61.8% were naturalized.[9]

The Spaniards were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the continental United States in 1565.[10] Martín de Argüelles, born in 1566 in San Agustín, La Florida then a part of New Spain, was the first person of European descent born in what is now the continental United States.[11] Virginia Dare, born in 1587 in Roanoke Island in present-day North Carolina, was the first child born in the original Thirteen Colonies to English parents. The Spaniards also established a continuous presence in what over three centuries later would become a possession of the United States with the founding of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1521.

In the 2020 United States census, English Americans 46.5 million (19.8%), German Americans 45m (19.1%), Irish Americans 38.6m (16.4%), and Italian Americans 16.8m (7.1%) were the four largest self-reported European ancestry groups in the United States constituting 62.4% of the population.[12] However, the English Americans and British Americans demography is considered a serious under-count as they tend to self-report and identify as simply "Americans" (since the introduction of a new "American" category in the 1990 census) due to the length of time they have inhabited America. This is highly over-represented in the Upland South, a region that was settled historically by the British.[13][14][15][16][17][18]

Overall, as the largest group, European Americans have the lowest poverty rate[19] and the second highest educational attainment levels, median household income,[20] and median personal income[21] of any racial demographic in the nation, second only to Asian Americans in the latter three categories.

References

  1. "Fernandez v. Keisler, 502 F.3d 337". https://cite.case.law/f3d/502/337/#p341. 
  2. "Robertson-Dewar v. Mukasey, 599 F. Supp. 2d 772". https://cite.case.law/f-supp-2d/599/772/#footnote_1_3. 
  3. "Permanent Allegiance Law and Legal Definition". https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/permanent-allegiance/. 
  4. "The American Diaspora". 
  5. "Our Diverse Population: Race and Hispanic Origin, 2000". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/pop-profile/2000/chap16.pdf. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 "Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity". Office of Management and Budget. https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/fedreg/1997standards.html. 
  7. 7.0 7.1 Grieco, Elizabeth M; Rachel C. Cassidy. "Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2000". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/cenbr01-1.pdf. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 "U.S. Census website". 2008 Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/. 
  9. "The Foreign Born Population in the United States: 2010". https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acs-19.pdf. 
  10. "A Spanish Expedition Established St. Augustine in Florida". Library of Congress. http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/colonial/jb_colonial_augustin_1.html. 
  11. Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. "Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Population for More Than 200 New Detailed Race and Ethnicity Groups". September 21, 2023. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/2020-census-dhc-a-race-overview.html. 
  13. Ethnic Landscapes of America Template:Webarchive – By John A. Cross
  14. Census and you: monthly news from the U.S. Bureau... Volume 28, Issue 2 Template:Webarchive – By United States. Bureau of the Census
  15. Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America Template:Webarchive By Dominic J. Pulera.
  16. Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?', Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. "Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2004". https://www.census.gov/prod/2005pubs/p60-229.pdf. 
  20. "Median household income newsbrief, US Census Bureau 2005". https://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html. 
  21. "US Census Bureau, Personal income for Asian Americans, age 25+, 2006". http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032006/perinc/new03_008.htm. 
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