The United States is sometimes called a nation of immigrants. People from many different countries and races live there. It took centuries for the United States to become a multicultural society. And the country’s people did not come from all over the world at the same time. In fact, immigration to America happened in various stages.
After Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, many Europeans started to move to America. The first Europeans to come to America were English, Germans, Irish, Dutch, and French. Many Africans started coming as well. But they were slaves, so they were brought to America against their will.
Then, between 1880 and 1924, a second wave of immigrants poured into the United States. Many of these newcomers came from Southern and Eastern European countries, including Italy, Poland, and Russia. Since the late 1800s, Asian immigrants—people from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries—have streamed into the western United States.
While the first immigrants often spread out to rural areas, later immigrants concentrated in the cities. For instance, New York and Boston were homes to Italian and Jewish immigrants, the largest ethnic groups in the second wave of immigrants. Chicago was home to a mixture of many races and nationalities.
Today, the United States has citizens from almost every country. But not all nationalities have always gotten along with each other. Immigrants sometimes encountered discrimination. Early immigrants, such as English settlers, Irish, and Germans, shared much with English culture. However, later immigrants were very different. They spoke different languages and had different religions and customs. Some people who were already well settled disliked more poor newcomers arriving. As a result, social discrimination against blacks, Jews, Asians, and other ethnic groups continued into the 1900s.
However, the U.S. government passed laws to end discrimination in the 1960s. Now, all people are treated fairly no matter what race they are. So, most Americans live together in harmony. |
美國時常被稱作移民國家，許多來自不同國家的人民、種族定居在此，美國花費了數個世紀才成為一個多元文化社會。美國人民並非同時從世界各地湧來，事實上，美國的移民潮發生在數個不同階段。
克里斯多夫�O 哥倫布於西元1492 年發現美洲大陸之後，許多歐洲人開始動身前往。最早抵達美洲大陸的一群人裡有英國人、德國人、愛爾蘭人、荷蘭人和法國人。許多非洲人接踵而至，但他們卻是以奴隸的身分被迫前往美洲大陸。
接下來的西元1880 到1924 年間，第二波移民潮湧入美國，眾多新移民來自南歐和東歐，包括義大利、波蘭和俄羅斯。自1800 年代晚期，從中國、日本、韓國和其他國家來的亞洲移民，陸續移入美國西部。
第一批移民通常分散在鄉村地區；晚期移民則集中在城市區域。舉例來說，第二波移民潮中，人數最龐大的義大利和猶太族群多集中在紐約、波士頓，芝加哥則匯聚了各種種族和國籍的移民。
如今，美國公民幾乎涵蓋了各國人種，但並非所有民族都能融洽相處，這些移民有時面臨種族歧視。早期的移民，如英國殖民者、愛爾蘭人和德國人，擁有許多共同的英國文化；然而，晚期移民則有許多相異之處，他們說不同的語言，有不同的宗教信仰和習俗，一些已在當地安定下來的人並不歡迎更多的貧窮新移民到來，也因此形成了對黑人、猶太人、亞洲人和其他種族的歧視，直至1900 年代仍未消減。
然而，美國政府在1960 年代通過了廢除種族歧視的法案，如今各種族都能享有公平待遇，多數美國人已能和諧共處。 |
