Week 5: The New American

http://blogs.census.gov/directorsblog/2011/03/the-future-of-the-us-advertising-industry.html
"Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world." P.44

This quote from De Crevecoeur's 'Letters From an American Farmer' is an interesting quote that highlights a contemporary aspect of America that is still relevant today. Although the website where I found the above source focuses upon the notion of consumerism, the point about America's population is relevant to what I am discussing. It is fair to say that the power and influence that America has has encouraged migration and as a result America has become a multi-cultural society. America is one of the main places in the world where cultural diversity is prominent. De Crevecoeur makes a lot of references to 'The New American' throughout Chapter III. For example, De Crevecoeur states "...that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a family, whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations...They will finish the great circle. The Americans were once scattered all over Europe. Here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population..." P44. With reference to the above graph, it is clear to see the vast increase from the 1850's to 2009 of people who have migrated and had families within the USA. The purple bars show the population of foreigners born in millions, whereas the line graph represents the percentage that they make up over America as a whole. 1910 was the peak of immigration, before it started to falter between the 1950's and 70's. However from 1980 onwards, the American population boomed and as a result due to the fact that each year America grew and expanded, foreigners who migrated to the USA began to make up a smaller percentage. Nonetheless the graph is very significant in comparison to De Crevecoeurs quote. The fact that 38.5 million foreigners make up 12.6% of the overall population of America clearly represents how '...individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men...' And these figures are still increasing to this day.

De Crevecoeur made an interesting point, which indeed still has relevance today.