Demographic Changes in America (1607-1914)
Historical records of American demography start with the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Puritans landed in Plymouth and made a home for themselves with the help of Native Americans. These first immigrants in the colonies (British, Dutch, and German), moved to America between the early 17th and late 18th centuries in what was known as Old Immigration. During the colonial period, the birth rate was high but the life expectancy was low. It was common for people to live up until their mid-thirties and families consisted of six to eight children, of which usually just three survived past childhood. The population of the colonies rose to over two million by 1765. The birth rate and life
…show more content…
Rachel Diao, Sam Jiang
Demographic Changes in America
1. Which time period in American history saw a drop in fertility rate? a. Revolutionary War era b. Civil War era c. Reconstruction era d. Progressive era 2. During “New Immigration”, the majority of the immigrants were: e. Chinese f. Japanese g. Southern Europeans and Russians h. Germans and Scots-Irish 3. Which group fled to Utah because of religious persecution? i. Puritans j. Mormons k. Roman Catholics l. New Lights 4. Why did life expectancy decrease in the 1880s? m. Inexperienced doctors n. Poorly sanitized medical equipment o. Disease and poor conditions in cities p. Lack of contraceptives and STI’s 5. Which group was drawn to the US during the Industrial Revolution? q. Chinese r. Japanese s. Mexicans t. Europeans 6. Why did the birth rate drop during the Civil War? u. Mobilization of young men v. Increased infant mortality w. Development of birth control technologies x. Low morale 7. How did poor Europeans enter the US from 1880-1914? y. Through Angel Island z. Stowing away on cargo ships {. Through Boston Harbor |. Through Ellis Island 8. The Great
Through the period of 1865-1900, America’s agriculture underwent a series of changes .Changes that were a product of influential role that technology, government policy and economic conditions played. To extend on this idea, changes included the increase on exported goods, do the availability of products as well as the improved traveling system of rail roads. In the primate stages of these developing changes, farmers were able to benefit from the product, yet as time passed by, dissatisfaction grew within them. They no longer benefited from the changes (economy went bad), and therefore they no longer supported railroads. Moreover they were discontented with the approach that the government had taken towards the situation.
Everyday Life in Early America was written by David Freeman Hawke, a professor of American History at Lehman College. He was seventy-five years old when he passed away in 1999. Hawke carried multiple degrees from Swarthmore College, University of Wisconsin, and the University of Pennsylvania. He was a highly regarded historical scholar with a talent for writing. Hawke already had several books published by the time he wrote Everyday Life in Early America in 1988. These books include: The Colonial Experience (1966), In the Midst of a Revolution (1961), Paine (1974), and Franklin (1976). His other book, “Benjamin Rush: Revolutionary Gadfy” was a biography nominated for National Book Award in 1972.
Between the 18th -century the British colonies in North America transformed their colonial life and culture through Anglicization and Americanization. Anglicization was where the new colonies wanted to follow the British society. Americanization was where the new colonies wanted to follow their own original and self-governing rules and create a new nation. While both of these processes aided in shaping the new colonies, only one process transformed the colonial life and culture into what it was after the 18th-century.
The difference in life expectancy in the Chesapeake region vs. the New England region was quite large. The reasons were quite legitimate. For example, the Chesapeake had a high death rate because of things such a disease, the hot / humid climate, Indian attacks, and their infant mortality rate. In the Chesapeake colonies, the life expectancy for white males was only 43 years old and 25% of children died in infancy as well as another 25% did not reach their 20’s. Although the male life expectancy was 43 years old there was still a large male population with 74% males in 1625. This also caused fewer babies to be born in this era (the sex ratio was off). A ship of 74 immigrants was to be sent to Virginia of which 62 were men and 11 women; prime example of an unbalanced sex ratio (Doc C). This caused a lack of social stability, as to where in the New England region a much healthier standard of living was provided as well as the fact that there was a more even sex ratio. A majority of the immigrants were families. Weymouth, on the 20th of March 1635, out of 104, the majority was families and men (Doc B). The average life expectancy was 70 years old, so that by the 1700’s there were more elderly people in the New England colonies vs. the Chesapeake.
The American Revolution had a very intense fundamental change on American society between the years 1775 to 1800. The thirst for independence resulted in the revolution which caused many political, social, and economic changes. When the revolution began, the people were drowning in jingoism, and after the seven years of fighting for our independence, several changes had to be made. Although some political, social, and economic parts of society seem to have remained the same, America experienced drastic fundamental changes throughout these years and set the standards for even more changes to come.
The New England colonies and the colonies in the Chesapeake had many differences in their social patterns. For both areas, immigrant families started to develop a characteristic culture, depending on the type of family that arrived in each respective region. This defined the population in each area. For example, in New England, families are very stable, but in the Chesapeake families are more fragile. The cause of fragility among the Chesapeake families during this time was the extremely high death rates in this area. Many children grew up orphans, and it was difficult to start new families because so many people would die of disease before even being able to reproduce with their
The United States grew at a dramatic rate between the years 1880 and 1900, within the cities. U.S. cities grew by approximately 15 million people in the two decades before 1900. Many historians claim that most of the population growth was due to the expansion of industry. It is also believed that the majority of the population explosion was immigrants that were arriving from all over the world. A good amount of people from the rural areas of America also moved to the cities during this period in the search of work. Between 1880 and 1890, it is suggested that almost 40 percent of the townships in the United States lost population because of migration.
It seems that the word Immigration has took on a new meaning as for it once meant. Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. It has always been a hot topic in our society because of all the controversy behind it, About whose land is actually theirs. It all starts in 1620, when the mayflower for the first time in history touches american soil, And changes the way history would unfold and the very way we live today. They came from England, searching for vast freedom from a corrupt, indigenous society seeking freedom of religion and the thought, ironically searching for the American dream before it became a phrase. They would stumble across humble , spiritual, and land loving givers who would eventually train these new pilgrims on how to live off the good god living land. Things would soon take a turn for the worst when disputes over land came abroad, this ended in a bloody battle leaving the pilgrims victorious with their new land. But history is always prone to repetitiveness once the 1700's came.
The first half of the nineteenth century in the United States of America was a time of tremendous change for the nation. Firstly, change began as Thomas Jefferson was elected president, which meant the beginning of the Democratic-Republicans reign in office. But this development of the modern United States led not to a unified nation, yet it led to one divided. The expansion and development of ideas and land exposed great regional differences in the United States between 1800 and 1848. Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase had not only provided the country with land to farm, but it had doubled the size of the United States. Decisions over what to do with the new land separated the country. This is clearly seen in disputes concerning the United States’
f North America in the 1500s. Before that time, the continent was an unknown place to them. These adventurers saw it as an entirely new land, with animals and plants to discover. They also met new people in this exciting New World—people with fascinating lifeways that the Europeans had never seen and languages they had never heard. This New World for Europeans was actually a very old world for the various people they met in North America. Today we call those people American Indians.
During the late 1700s, production and manufacturing were centralized around people’s homes and farms. The majority of the work produced was done to provide for individual or community use; often hard labor, basic machines, and hand tools were used to carry out tasks. An era of powered machines and factories created the Industrial mark across the nation. Textile and iron industries developed the steam engine to help improve transportation and exchange to increase manufactured goods. While the impact improved the standard of living for a small majority, others a large majority remained poor and living in poverty. Urban cities that housed large manufacturing plants that provided jobs in often overcrowded cities and poor living conditions.
Whether by land or by sea, eighteenth century colonial travel was arduous, expensive, and many times dangerous. Because of this, few people traveled very far from their homes. Transportation has changed dramatically since the late 1700’s. It was during this time that Colonial America was budding as a new country. This was before airplanes, which appeared in the very early stages of the 1900’s. Cars showed up about the same time, so rewind about 200 plus years and we’re back in colonial America. It wasn’t civilized like it is today. The dirt roads were bumpy, grimy, and when the rains came, they were mud baths. So how did people during this time get around? Often, they didn’t. Not many people could afford the cost of travel back then. Daily American Colonial Life was extremely harsh for the first settlers and colonists. They were faced with a new country, unknown territory and no friends, relatives or neighbors to help them “In those days, it was fairly expensive to travel. Because of this, generally only government officials, merchants, and planters took the risk (Constitution Facts).” Women were supposed to stay home and look after the children while the husband went off to do business. America was still a budding country, so there were not as many cities as there are now and they were more spread out. If the man wanted to travel, it would require several hours, or even several days to ride on horseback. Often the husband wouldn’t return for a couple of days, and when he
The human species of the world are growing older, and existing longer. Research shows that the average life expectancy of humans living past the age of 80, since the 1800s to that of 2011, has increased by almost 10% per year, with women leading the way with a growth expectancy growing from that of 6.4% to that of 9.6%, surpassing their male counterpart whose life expectancy show an increase from 5.9% to that of 8.2%. As the human life expectancy increases, there also comes an increase concerns by individuals and government official alike in regards to elder care. This literature looks at what is being carried out by individuals as well as government officials to deal with the cost of living longer. We will examination approaches identified
AAmerica began as a small struggling nation, with each citizen desiring an opportunistic way of life. To achieve this way of life, many changes needed to be made. Different people with distinctive ideas came together, and although there was conflict, they made great changes politically, socially, and economically. Each aspect changed America tremendously in a variety of ways. Analyzing each specific change can determine the extent in which America has changed for better or for worse.
Immigration to America peaked at this time, with the majority of people are coming from England, though many others were coming from other countries such as: France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, Scotland, and Sweden, there were also others but they had less people migrating to America (The World Book Encyclopedia, Vol. 10, pages 81-82). At this point colonists were importing slaves from Africa to run their plantations, and do all the undesirable work that a rich white man would not do. However, it wasn’t until 1783 that the official United States of America was created, this was when the Colonists became known as Americans. Up until 1787, the people of America were called Colonists or Settlers, and after 1787, they were then called immigrants. The population at this time averaged at 91 people per square mile, which overall is about 2.5 million people