The Ethnic Dimension in American History is a thorough survey of the role that ethnicity has played in shaping the history of the United States. Considering ethnicity in terms of race, language, religion and national origin, this important text examines its effects on social relations, public policy and economic development. A thorough survey of the role that ethnicity has played in shaping the history of the United States, including the effects of ethnicity on social relations, public policy and economic development Includes histories of a wide range of ethnic groups including African Americans, Native Americans, Jews, Chinese, Europeans, Japanese, Muslims, Koreans, and Latinos Examines the interaction of ethnic groups with one another and the dynamic processes of acculturation, modernization, and assimilation; as well as the history of immigration Revised and updated material in the fourth edition reflects current thinking and recent history, bringing the story up to the present and including the impact of 9/11

Covers immigration from the Colonial period to 1975. Covers ethnic groups from Western Europe, Asia, Eastern Europe, Mediterranean People, Native Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricas, Cubans, Virgin Islanders, Haitians, and has a chapter on the Black Man's experience.

Through association with others, individuals come to know themselves; and through placement among people of their own national, cultural, and religious kind they gain a larger American identity. This paradoxical relationship between individual and community has special meaning in American history. In neighborhoods and other forms of association, members of immigrant ethnicities along with racial and religious minorities have sought to preserve their distinctiveness against social homogenization.This book's 17 chapters cover the history of ethnicity in American society, from the first Americans before colonization up to the present day. Groups covered include Native Americans and Americans of varied backgrounds: European, Chinese, African, Jewish, Filipino, Japanese, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Korean, Haitian, Indonesian, and Muslim.

The story of West Indian immigrants to the United States is generally considered to be a great success. Mary Waters, however, tells a very different story. She finds that the values that gain first-generation immigrants initial success--a willingness to work hard, a lack of attention to racism, a desire for education, an incentive to save--are undermined by the realities of life and race relations in the United States. Contrary to long-held beliefs, Waters finds, those who resist Americanization are most likely to succeed economically, especially in the second generation.

"What is the state of the field of immigration and ethnic history; what have scholars learned about previous immigration waves; and where is the field heading? These are the main questions as historians, linguists, sociologists, and political scientists in this book look at past and contemporary immigration and ethnicity"--Provided by publisher.