Northern and Western Europeans

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Questions We Will Explore

• What was the dominant group at the nation’s beginning and how did it set the stage for dominant-minority relations in the U.S.?

• What are some examples of cultural pluralism among the Dutch, French, German, and Irish peoples in the United States?

• What similarities in dominant-minority patterns were shared by most northern and western European immigrants?

• How do the three major theoretical perspectives explain the experiences of the northern and western European immigrant groups? Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

What Motivated Europeans to Come to America

• European colonist gambled on having better lives--origin of the American Dream

• Europeans experienced generations of survival difficulties; walls surrounded most European cities to protect them from outside

attacks, disease was rampant, resulting in early death, riots, burnings at the stake, combat sieges and sacks of towns.

• They came well prepared by their life in the Old World to do what was needed to survive in America.

• They wanted land to build more communities to create a ‘New England’, and only the Indians stood in their way. Kent L. Kippelman with R. Lee Goodhart, 2005

Cultural Foundations of Dominance and Oppression in United States

• European colonists in America encourages oppressive attitudes and actions toward those who were different for survival.

• Oppressive colonial attitudes and actions were reinforced in response to ethnic and religious diversity contributed by subsequent waves of immigration.

Eastern Europeans Southern European Religious diversity

Catholics Jewish Atheist.

• Early American culture fostered oppression aids that were the impetus in understanding how anti-oppressive attitudes and actions were promoted in response throughout history

• Kent L. Kippelman with R. Lee Goodhart, 2005

English Influence• English immigrants’ greatest impact on U.S. culture

occurred during the colonial period. Settling in the 13 original colonies, they so established themselves that succeeding generations were culturally and politically dominant by the time of the American Revolution.

• In 1790, about 63 percent of the U.S. population could claim nationality or descent from the British Isles. This large majority of English-speaking citizens made an indelible imprint on U.S. culture in language, law, customs, and values. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Anglo-Saxon Reactions to Immigrants during the Late 1700s

• White Anglo-Saxon Protestants were the dominant group in the United States during the late 1700s.

• Many new immigrants arrived during the immediate post-Revolution period, and a broad-based antiforeign attitude asserted itself.

• Many Federalists (the conservatives of the late 1700s) believed that the large foreign-born population was the root of all evil in the United States.

• The dominant English Americans’ beliefs about and actions toward the newly arriving northern and western European immigrants set what was to become a familiar pattern in dominant-minority relations in the U.S. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Anglo-SaxonDefinition: White Anglo-Saxon ProtestantNoun: A White Protestant of Anglo-Saxon ancestry [syn: WASP, white Anglo-Saxton

Protestant] The history of Anglo-Saxon England must be considered in three stages: the pagan period from the settlement to the Augustinian mission The establishment of England The Scandinavian ear.

Roman government bequeathed a legacy of Roman institutions to Britain. The Romanized native population struggled for a short time to preserve its individuality and to retain its civilization,

The newcomers, came from three very powerful nations of Germans: namely the Saxon, The Angles and the Jutes.

Angles--Germanic people whose homeland is located on the central and southern parts of the Jutland peninsula.

Saxons--Germanic people whose homeland is located in Northern German coastal plans, and between the rivers of Elbe and Weser

Anglo-Saxon--Name given to distinguish the barbarian settlers of Britain, ‘ The English Saxon:

Anglo-Saxon Reactions (cont’d)

• Suspicious of those who differed from themselves, the Anglo Saxons ( dominant group) felt threatened.

• The dominant group’s concerns were that the newcomers’ cultures, religions, political ideologies—their very essence as people—were so unlike themselves as to make their blending into the mainstream a virtual impossibility.

• The increasing numbers of non-English speaking foreigners disturbed the Federalists the most.

• Their ethnocentrism led these early nativists to undermine the culture and society of the newcomers, a reaction similar to nativist reactions still heard in the 21st century. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Examples of Cultural Pluralism :The Dutch, French, German, and Irish

• Dutch culture and influence persisted for many generations despite the Anglo-Saxon cultural dominance.

• Dutch settlements were in the New York City area and in South Carolina.

• The Dutch were self-sufficient and their church, rather than mainstream secular ways, formed the basis of their social life. The more orthodox they were, the more they resisted assimilation. A steady migration into concentrated residential communities reinforced the old ways.

• Not until 1774 (over 100 years after New York became an English colony) were Dutch Americans taught English. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Pluralism (continued)

• Two persistent subcultures of French Americans can be found in southern Louisiana and in New England.

• The Cajuns in Louisiana were so strong (19th and early 20th century) that they absorbed other ethnic groups in the area. Today, they remain a strong presence in Louisiana. Cajun music and cuisine remain resilient entities as does family cohesiveness.

• During the 19th century many French Canadians migrated to the U.S., half of them to New England. The family and the church serve as strong cohesive units for retaining language and culture. French parochial schools have a unifying effect on this community. Today, French Canadians remain a distinct subgroup in New England. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Pluralism (continued)

• 18th century German immigrants settled in mid-Atlantic states. In the the 19th century they predominantly went to the Midwest and became homesteaders. They preserved their heritage through schools, churches, newspapers, language, mutual aid societies, and recreational activities.

• In the cities, they concentrated in Germantown communities. Here, Germans owned and operated most of the businesses, and German was the principal spoken language. Fraternal and mutual aid societies, newspapers, schools, churches, restaurants, and saloons aided newly arrived Germans in adjusting to their new country.

• After WWI, many German Americans, showed loyalty to the U.S. by abandoning their cultural manifestations. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Pluralism (continued)• After 1820, the largest number of Irish immigrants came to the

U.S. mostly to crowded coastal cities.• They created their own mutual welfare system through trade

associations (predecessors of labor unions), fraternal organizations, and homes for the aged. They were further united through family, church, and school, as well as social and recreational activities.

• Irish Catholics made slow but steady progress in entering the societal mainstream. Antipathy against them lessened as their command of English, improved economic position, and physical appearance made them less objectionable to English American Protestants than the new immigrants arriving from other parts of Europe. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Dominant-Minority Patterns Shared by Most Northern and Western European Immigrants

• All Northern and Western European immigrants faced varying degrees of hardship in the U.S. To ease the adjustment, they established churches, schools, newspapers, and fraternal and mutual aid societies. These helped them gain a measure of security, but such practices also led often to suspicion, dissension, and hostility between the dominant and minority cultures.

• Discrimination and xenophobia occurred when the Anglo-Saxons (dominant group) viewed the numbers and influence of the French, Irish, and Germans (minorities) as posing a threat to the stability of the job market, the community, or the nation itself. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Shared Patterns (continued)

• There were nativist movements against the French and Irish during John Adam’s presidency and against the German & Irish during the mid-19th century. Through legislative efforts and violent actions, the dominant group sought to justify discriminatory behavior as necessary to preserve the character of the U.S.

• For these northern and western European immigrants, the Civil War brought an end to the difficulties they had encountered because of their background. They now became comrades-in-arms for a common cause. Then, too, a new threat loomed on the horizon, as “new” immigrants from southern, central, and eastern Europe began the next great wave of migration to the U.S. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Three Major Perspectives Explaining the Northern and Western European Immigrant Experience

• Functionalist:• Northern and western European immigrants were desirable

because they helped to forge a new society out of an underdeveloped country rich in resources.

• Dysfunction occurred when large numbers entered the country because they could not be absorbed quickly enough. They clustered together, culturally distinct from the dominant English American model, generating prejudice and discrimination against them.

• In time, education and upward mobility through economic growth and the civil service allowed both acceptance and assimilation. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Three Perspectives (Continued)

• Conflict theory: • Emphasizes English American dominance and the

economic exploitation of other nationalities. • Economic exploitation, particularly in the case of the

Irish, brought prosperity to the owners of mines, factories, and railroads. Much of the industrial expansion in the 19th century, conflict theorists maintain, came at the expense of the immigrant workers who made it possible.

• The resulting conflict did eventually bring about change, as Irish and Germans organized and gained a greater share of the nation’s wealth. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Three Perspectives (continued)

• Interactionist:• Differing social interpretations, among groups

unfamiliar to each other, set the stage for ethnic conflict.

• In a country predominantly Protestant throughout its colonial and early national periods, the arrival of large numbers of German and Irish Catholic immigrants disturbed the native population.

• The Protestants interpreted the presence of these groups as a threat to the “American” way of life. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003

Summary

• The dominant Anglo-Saxons’ ethnocentrism and discrimination toward the newly arriving northern and western European immigrants set what was to become a familiar pattern in dominant-minority relations in the United States.

• All northern and western immigrants faced varying degrees of hardship in their new country.

• Dutch, French, German, and Irish culture and influence persisted for many years despite Anglo-Saxon cultural dominance. In time, all assimilated.

• The functionalist, conflict and interactionist theories provide explanations for the Northern and Western European experience.

• Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2003