European Americans are

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since the 17th century, European Americans have been the largest panethnic group in what is now the United States. According to the 2020 United States census, 58.8% of the

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

alone population and 56.1% of the White alone or in combination gave a detailed European write-in response. The

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

were the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the contiguous United States, although arriving in small numbers, with Martín de Argüelles ( 1566) in St. Augustine, then a part of

Spanish Florida Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...

, and the

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

were the first Europeans to settle in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, establishing Russian America. The first English child born in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

was Virginia Dare, born August 18, 1587. She was born in

Roanoke Colony The Roanoke Colony ( ) refers to two attempts by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The first colony was established at Roanoke Island in 1585 as a military outpost, and was evacuated in 1586. ...

, located in present-day

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

, which was the first attempt, made during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, to establish a permanent English settlement in North America. In the 2020 United States census, English Americans (46.6 million),

German Americans German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

(45 million), Irish Americans (38.6 million),

Italian Americans Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

(16.8 million) and Polish Americans (8.6 million) were the five largest self-reported European ancestry groups in the United States. The 2020 census was the first census to allow data collection on subtypes of Europeans. During previous surveys, the number of people with British ancestry was considered to be significantly under-counted, as many people in that demographic tended to identify themselves simply as

(20,151,829 or 7.2%). A 2015 genetic study of 148,789 European Americans concluded that British ancestry was the most common European ancestry among white Americans, with this component ranging between 20% and 55% of the total population in all 50 states, showing its highest levels in the same states where “American” ancestry predominated on the census. The same applies to the number Americans of Spanish ancestry, as most people in that demographic tend to identify themselves as

Hispanic and Latino Americans Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spaniards, Spanish or Latin Americans, Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino (demonym), ...

(65,140,276 or 19.4%), especially since the vast majority of this group and their ancestors came to the U.S. from Latin American countries rather than immigrating directly from Spain. Studies show that European genetic ancestry, mainly from Spain, is the largest component in Hispanic Americans, with a mean of 55% European genetic ancestry according to one study from 2019, and 65.1% European genetic ancestry according to another study from 2014. An increasing number of people ignore the ancestry or origins question or chose no specific ancestral group such as "American or United States". In the 2000 census this represented over 56.1 million or 19.9% of the United States population, an increase from 26.2 million (10.5%) in 1990 and 38.2 million (16.9%) in 1980 and are specified as "unclassified" and "not reported". In the 2020 U.S. census, 96.58 million people did not report any detailed white ethnic origins and are "Not specified".

Terminology

Use

In 1995, as part of a review of the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

's Statistical Policy Directive No. 15 (Race and Ethnic Standards for Federal Statistics and Administrative Reporting), a survey was conducted of census recipients to determine their preferred terminology for the racial/ethnic groups defined in the Directive. For the ''White'' group, ''European American'' came a distant third, preferred by only 2.35% of panel interviewees, as opposed to ''White'', which was preferred by 61.66%. The term is sometimes used interchangeably with Caucasian American, White American, and

Anglo-America Anglo-America most often refers to a region in the Americas in which English is the main language and British culture and the British Empire have had significant historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural impact."Anglo-America", vol. 1, Mic ...

n in the United States.

Origin

In contexts such as medical research, terms such as "white" and "European" have been criticized for vagueness and blurring important distinctions between different groups that happen to fit within the label. Margo Adair suggests that viewing Americans of European descent as a single group contributes to the " wonder-breading" of the United States, eradicating the cultural heritage of individual European ethnicities.

Subgroups

There are several subgroupings of European Americans. While these categories may be approximately defined, often due to the imprecise or cultural regionalization of Europe, the subgroups are nevertheless used widely in cultural or ethnic identification. This is particularly the case in diasporic populations, as with European people in the United States generally. In alphabetical order, some of the subgroups are: * Northwestern European Americans, including Austrian Americans, Belgian Americans, British Americans ( Cornish Americans, English Americans, Manx Americans, Scotch-Irish Americans, Scottish Americans, Welsh Americans), Dutch Americans, French Americans ( Breton Americans),

, Irish Americans, Luxembourger Americans, Nordic and Scandinavian Americans ( Danish Americans, Finnish Americans, Icelandic Americans, Norwegian Americans, Swedish Americans), and Swiss Americans, or "Old Immigrants" (the first waves of which arrived pre-1881) * Eastern European Americans, including Belarusian Americans, Czech Americans, Estonian Americans, Hungarian Americans, Latvian Americans, Lithuanian Americans, Polish Americans, Russian Americans, Slovak Americans, and Ukrainian Americans, or "New Immigrants" (the first large waves of which arrived 1881–1965) * Southern European Americans, including Albanian Americans, Bosnian Americans, Bulgarian Americans,

Croatian Americans Croatian Americans or Croat Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Croatian ancestry. In 2012, there were 414,714 American citizens of Croat or Croatian descent living in the United States as per revised 2010 United States Census ...

, Cypriot Americans, Greek Americans,

, Maltese Americans, Macedonian Americans, Moldovan Americans, Montenegrin Americans, Portuguese Americans, Romanian Americans, Serbian Americans, Slovenian Americans, and Spanish Americans ( Basque Americans, Catalan Americans, Galician Americans), also "New Immigrants" or "New Immigrants"(the first large waves of which arrived 1881–1965)

History

Before the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans predominantly inhabited the United States. The earliest Europeans to colonize North America were the small number of Spaniards. The first Spanish colonization was in 1565 at St. Augustine, Florida. One of the most significant Spanish explorers was

Hernando De Soto Hernando de Soto (; ; 1497 – 21 May 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who was involved in expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula. He played an important role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, ...

, a conquistador who accompanied Francisco Pizzaro during his conquest of the Inca Empire. Leaving Havana, Cuba, in 1539, De Soto's expedition landed in Florida. It explored the southeastern area of the United States. They reached as far as the Mississippi River in search of riches and fortune. Another Spaniard who explored the United States,

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (; 1510 – 22 September 1554) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who led a large expedition from what is now Mexico to present-day Kansas through parts of the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542 ...

, set out from

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

in 1540 in search of the mythical Seven Cities of Gold. Coronado's expedition traveled to Kansas and the Grand Canyon but failed to discover gold or treasure. However, Coronado left a gift of horses to the Plains Indians. Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazano and Frenchman

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier (; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French maritime explorer from Brittany. Jacques Cartier was the first Europeans, European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, wh ...

are other Europeans who explored the United States. The Spaniards viewed the French as threatening their trade route along the Gulf Stream. Since 1607, some 57 million immigrants from other lands have come to the United States. Approximately 10 million passed through on their way to some other place or returned to their homelands, leaving a net gain of 47 million people.

Shifts in European migration

Before 1881, the vast majority of immigrants, almost 86% of the total, arrived from Northwestern Europe, principally

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

, known as "Old Immigration". Between 1881 and 1893, the pattern shifted in the sources of U.S. "New Immigration." Between 1894 and 1914, immigrants from Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe accounted for 69% of the total. Prior to 1960, the overwhelming majority came from Europe or of European descent from Canada. Immigration from Europe as a proportion of new arrivals has declined since the mid-20th century, with 75.0% of the total foreign-born population born in Europe compared to 12.1% recorded in the 2010 census.

Immigration since 1820

{, {, class="wikitable" style="text-align:left" , - ! colspan="6", Country of origin 1820–1978 , - ! Country ! Arrivals ! % of total ! Country ! Arrivals ! % of total , - ,

¹ , , 6,978,000 , , 14.3% , ,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, , 856,000 , , 1.8% , - ,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, , 5,294,000 , , 10.9% , ,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, , 4,351,000 , , 9.5% , - ,

, , 4,298,000 , , 9.4% , ,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, , 655,000 , , 1.3% , - ,

, , 4,723,000 , , 9.7% , ,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, , 446,000 , , 0.9% , - ,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

^1, ² , , 4,315,000 , , 8.9% , ,

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, , 364,000 , , 0.7% , - ,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

^1, ² , , 3,374,000 , , 6.9% , ,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, , 359,000 , , 0.7% , - ,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, , 1,272,000 , , 2.6% , ,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, , 33,000 , , 0.1% , - ! , , , , , , , , Total , , 34,318,000 , - ;European-born population The figures below show that of the total population of the specified birthplace in the United States, 11.1% were born overseas. {, class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; display: inline-table" , - ! colspan=3 , Population / Proportion
born in Europe in 1850–2016 , - ! Year ! Population ! % of foreign-born , - , 1850 , , 2,031,867 , , 92.2% , - , 1860 , , 3,807,062 , , 92.1% , - , 1870 , , 4,941,049 , , 88.8% , - , 1880 , , 5,751,823 , , 86.2% , - , 1890 , , 8,030,347 , , 86.9% , - , 1900 , , 8,881,548 , , 86.0% , - , 1910 , , 11,810,115 , , 87.4% , - , 1920 , , 11,916,048 , , 85.7% , - , 1930 , , 11,784,010 , , 83.0% , - , 1960 , , 7,256,311 , , 75.0% , - , 1970 , , 5,740,891 , , 61.7% , - , 1980 , , 5,149,572 , , 39.0% , - , 1990 , , 4,350,403 , , 22.9% , - , 2000 , , 4,915,557 , , 15.8% , - , 2010 , , 4,817,437 , , 12.1% , - , 2016 , , 4,785,267 , , 10.9% , - , colspan="4" style="text-align:left;" , Source: {, class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; display: inline-table" , - ! Birthplace ! Population
in 2010 ! Percent
in 2010 ! Population
in 2016 ! Percent
in 2016 , - , align=left , Totals, European-born , , 4,817,437 , , 12.0% , , 4,785,267 , , 10.9% , - , align=left ,

Northern Europe The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other ge ...

, , 923,564 , , 2.3% , , 950,872 , , 2.2% , - ,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, , 669,794 , , 1.7% , , 696,896 , , 1.6% , - ,

, , 124,457 , , 0.3% , , 125,840 , , 0.3% , - , align=left , Other Northern Europe , , 129,313 , , 0.3% , , 128,136 , , 0.3% , - , align=left ,

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

, , 961,791 , , 2.4% , , 939,383 , , 2.1% , - ,

, , 604,616 , , 1.5% , , 563,985 , , 1.3% , - ,

, , 402,373 , , 0.9% , , 575,383 , , 1.2% , - , Other Western Europe , , 209,216 , , 0.5% , , 200,148 , , 0.4% , - , align=left , Southern Europe , , 779,294 , , 2.0% , , 760,352 , , 1.7% , - ,

, , 364,972 , , 0.9% , , 335,763 , , 0.8% , - ,

, , 189,333 , , 0.5% , , 176,638 , , 0.4% , - , Other Southern Europe , , 224,989 , , 0.6% , , 247,951 , , 0.5% , - , align=left ,

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, , 2,143,055 , , 5.4% , , 2,122,951 , , 4.9% , - ,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, , 475,503 , , 1.2% , , 424,928 , , 1.0% , - ,

, , 383,166 , , 1.0% , , 397,236 , , 0.9% , - , Other Eastern Europe , , 1,284,286 , , 3.2% , , 1,300,787 , , 3.0% , - , Other Europe (no country specified) , , 9,733 , , 0.0% , , 11,709 , , 0.0% , - , colspan="6" style="text-align:left;" , Source: 2010 and 2016

Demographics

A view of New York City with the Empire State Building and One World Trade Center from the Rockefeller Center

Breakdowns of the European American population into sub-components is a difficult and rather arbitrary exercise. Farley (1991) argues that "because of ethnic intermarriage, the numerous generations that separate respondents from their forebears and the apparent unimportance to many whites of European origin, responses appear quite inconsistent".

Ancestral origins

{, class="wikitable sortable collapsible nowrap" style="font-size:90%; text-align: right" , - ! Ethnic origin ! colspan="2" ,

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

/ % ! colspan="2" , 1990 / % ! colspan="2" , 2000 / % ! colspan="2" ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

/ % !data-sort-type="number", , - , style="text-align: left;" , United States pop. , 226,545,805 , 100.0 , 248,709,873 , 100.0 , 281,421,906 , 100.0 , 331,449,281 , 100.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , At least one ancestry
reported , 188,302,438 , 83.1 , 224,788,502 , 90.4 , 225,310,411 , 80.1 , TBA , TBA , , - , style="text-align: left;" ,

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

/ Cajun , , , 668,271 , 0.3 , 85,414 , 0.0 , 132,624 , 0.1 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Albanian , 38,658 , 0.02 , 47,710 , 0.0 , 113,661 , 0.0 , 236,635 , 0.1 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Alsatian , 42,390 , 0.02 , 16,465 , 0.0 , 15,601 , 0.0 , 12,056 , 0.00 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , American , 13,298,761 , 5.9 , 12,395,999 , 5.0 , 20,625,093 , 7.3 , - , - , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Austrian , 948,558 , 0.42 , 864,783 , 0.3 , 735,128 , 0.3 , 697,425 , 0.3 , , - , style="text-align: left;" ,

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

, 43,140 , 0.0 , 47,956 , 0.0 , 57,793 , 0.0 , 52,559 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Bavarian , , , 4,348 , 0.0 , - , - , - , - , - , - , style="text-align: left;" , Belarusian , 7,381 , 0.00 , 4,277 , 0.0 , - , - , 67,599 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Belgian , 360,277 , 0.16 , 380,498 , 0.2 , 360,642 , 0.1 , 384,224 , 0.2 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , British , , , 1,119,154 , 0.4 , 1,085,720 , 0.4 , 860,315 , 0.4 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , British Islander , , , , , , , 43,654 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Bulgarian , 42,504 , 0.02 , 29,595 , 0.0 , 55,489 , 0.0 , 102,968 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Carpatho Rusyn , , , 7,602 , 0.0 , , , 9,747 , 0.00 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Celtic , , , 29,652 , 0.0 , 65,638 , 0.0 , 30,630 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Cornish , , , 3,991 , 0.0 , - , - , 6,257 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Croatian , 252,970 , 0.11 , 544,270 , 0.2 , 374,241 , 0.1 , 448,479 , 0.2 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Cypriot , 6,053 , 0.00 , 4,897 , 0.0 , 7,663 , 0.0 , 10,384 , 0.00 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Czech , 1,892,456 , 0.84 , 1,296,411 , 0.5 , 1,262,527 , 0.4 , 1,397,780 , 0.6 , , - , style="text-align: left;" ,

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

n , , , 315,285 , 0.1 , 441,403 , 0.2 , - , - , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Danish , 1,518,273 , 0.67 , 1,634,669 , 0.7 , 1,430,897 , 0.5 , 1,314,209 , 0.6 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Dutch , 6,304,499 , 2.78 , 6,227,089 , 2.5 , 4,542,494 , 1.6 , 3,649,179 , 1.6 , , - , style="text-align:left;",

an , 62,404 , 0.03 , 132,332 , 0.1 , - , - , - , - , , - , style="text-align: left;" , English , 49,598,035 , 21.89 , 32,651,788 , 13.1 , 24,515,138 , 8.7 , 46,550,968 , 19.8 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Estonian , 25,994 , 0.01 , 26,762 , 0.0 , 25,034 , 0.0 , 30,054 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align:left;", European , 175,461 , 0.08 , 466,718 , 0.2 , 1,968,696 , 0.7 , - , - , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Finnish , 615,872 , 0.27 , 658,870 , 0.3 , 623,573 , 0.2 , 684,373 , 0.3 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Flemish , , , 14,157 , 0.0 , , , 384,224 , 0.2 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , French , 12,892,246 , 5.69 , 10,320,935 , 4.1 , 8,309,908 , 3.0 , 7,994,088 , 3.4 , , - , style="text-align: left;" ,

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

, 780,488 , 0.34 , 2,167,127 , 0.9 , 2,349,684 , 0.8 , 933,740 , 0.4 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , German , 49,224,146 , 21.73 , 57,947,171 , 23.3 , 42,885,162 , 15.2 , 44,978,546 , 19.1 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , German Russian , , , 10,153 , 0.0 , 10,535 , 0.0 , , , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Greek , 959,856 , 0.42 , 1,110,373 , 0.4 , 1,153,307 , 0.4 , 568,564 , 0.2 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Hungarian , 1,776,902 , 0.78 , 1,582,302 , 0.6 , 1,398,724 , 0.5 , 684,373 , 0.3 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Icelandic , 32,586 , 0.01 , 40,529 , 0.0 , 42,716 , 0.0 , 55,602 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Irish , 40,165,702 , 17.73 , 38,735,539 , 15.6 , 30,528,492 , 10.8 , 38,597,428 , 16.4 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Italian , 12,183,692 , 5.38 , 14,664,550 , 5.9 , 15,723,555 , 5.6 , 16,813,235 , 7.1 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Latvian , 92,141 , 0.04 , 100,331 , 0.0 , 87,564 , 0.0 , 92,944 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Lithuanian , 742,776 , 0.33 , 811,865 , 0.3 , 659,992 , 0.2 , 711,089 , 0.3 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Luxemburger , 49,994 , 0.02 , 49,061 , 0.0 , 45,139 , 0.0 , 57,359 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Macedonian , , , 20,365 , 0.0 , 38,051 , 0.0 , 51,401 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Maltese , 31,645 , 0.01 , 39,600 , 0.0 , 40,159 , 0.0 , 44,874 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Manx , 9,220 , 0.00 , 6,317 , 0.0 , 6,955 , 0.0 , 8,704 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Moravian , , , 3,781 , 0.0 , - , - , - , - , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Northern Irelander , 16,418 , 0.01 , 4,009 , 0.0 , 3,693 , 0.0 , 5,181 , 0.0 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Norwegian , 3,453,839 , 1.52 , 3,869,395 , 1.6 , 4,477,725 , 1.6 , 3,836,884 , 1.6 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Pennsylvania German , , , 305,841 , 0.1 , 255,807 , 0.1 , 169,821 , 0.1 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Polish , 8,228,037 , 3.63 , 9,366,106 , 3.8 , 8,977,444 , 3.2 , 8,599,601 , 3.7 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Portuguese , 1,024,351 , 0.45 , 1,153,351 , 0.5 , 1,177,112 , 0.4 , 1,454,262 , 0.6 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Prussian , , , 25,469 , 0.0 , - , - , - , - , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Romanian , 315,258 , 0.14 , 365,544 , 0.1 , 367,310 , 0.1 , 416,545 , 0.2 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Russian , 2,781,432 , 1.23 , 2,952,987 , 1.2 , 2,652,214 , 0.9 , 2,412,131 , 1.0 , , - , style="text-align:left;", Saxon , , , 4,519 , 0.0 , , , , , , - , style="text-align:left;", Scandinavian , 475,007 , 0.21 , 678,880 , 0.3 , 425,099 , 0.2 , 1,217,333 , 0.5 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Scots-Irish , , , 5,617,773 , 2.3 , 4,319,232 , 1.5 , 794,478 , 0.3 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Scottish , 10,048,816 , 4.44 , 5,393,581 , 2.2 , 4,890,581 , 1.7 , 8,422,613 , 3.6 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Serbian , 100,941 , 0.04 , 116,795 , 0.0 , 140,337 , 0.0 , 204,380 , 0.1 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Sicilian , , , 50,389 , 0.0 , - , - , - , - , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Slavic , 172,696 , 0.08 , 76,931 , 0.0 , 127,137 , 0.0 , 180,316 , 0.1 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Slovak , 776,806 , 0.34 , 1,882,897 , 0.8 , 797,764 , 0.3 , 691,455 , 0.3 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Slovenian , 126,463 , 0.06 , 124,437 , 0.1 , 176,691 , 0.1 , 196,513 , 0.1 , , - , style="text-align: left;" ,

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, , , 7,729 , 0.0 , - , - , - , - , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Spaniard , 94,528 , 0.04 , 360,935 , 0.1 , 299,948 , 0.1 , 978,978 , 0.4 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Spanish , 2,686,680 , - , 2,024,004 , 0.8 , 2,187,144 , 0.8 , 866,356 , 0.4 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Swedish Americans, Swedish , 4,345,392 , 1.92 , 4,680,863 , 1.9 , 3,998,310 , 1.4 , 3,839,796 , 1.6 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Swiss Americans, Swiss , 981,543 , 0.43 , 1,045,495 , 0.4 , 911,502 , 0.3 , 946,179 , 0.4 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Ukrainian Americans, Ukrainian , 730,056 , 0.32 , 740,723 , 0.3 , 892,922 , 0.3 , 953,509 , 0.4 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Welsh Americans, Welsh , 1,664,598 , 0.73 , 2,033,893 , 0.8 , 1,753,794 , 0.6 , 1,977,383 , 0.8 , , - , style="text-align: left;" , German Americans, West German , , , 3,885 , 0.0 , - , - , - , - , , - , style="text-align: left;" , Yugoslav Americans, Yugoslav , 360,174 , 0.16 , 257,994 , 0.1 , 328,547 , 0.1 , - , - , , -

Culture

As the largest component of the American population, the overall American culture deeply reflects the European-influenced culture that predates the United States of America as an independent state. Much of American culture shows influences from the diverse nations of the

and

, such as the English, Irish, Cornish, Manx, Scotch-Irish Americans, Scotch-Irish, Scottish and Welsh Americans, Welsh. Colonial ties to the Great Britain, United Kingdom spread the English language, legal system and other cultural attributes. Scholar David Hackett Fischer asserts in ''Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America'' that the folkways of four groups of people who moved from distinct regions of the

to the United States persisted and provide a substantial cultural basis for much of the modern United States. Fischer explains "the origins and stability of a social system which for two centuries has remained stubbornly democracy, democratic in its politics, capitalism, capitalist in its economy, libertarianism, libertarian in its laws and individualism, individualist in its society and cultural pluralism, pluralistic in its culture." Much of the European-American cultural lineage can be traced back to Western Europe, Western and

, which is institutionalized in the government, traditions, and civic education in the United States.Kirk, Russell. The Heritage Lecture Series. "America Should Strengthen its European Cultural Roots." Washington D.C:1949 Since most later European Americans have assimilated into American culture, many Americans of European ancestry now generally express their personal ethnic ties sporadically and symbolically and do not consider their specific ethnic origins to be essential to their identity; however, European American ethnic expression has been revived since the 1960s. Some European Americans such as Italian American, Italians, Greek Americans, Greeks, Polish Americans, Poles, German Americans, Germans, Ukrainian Americans, Ukrainians, Irish, and others have maintained high levels of ethnic identity. In the 1960s, the melting pot ideal to some extent gave way to increased interest in cultural pluralism, strengthening affirmations of ethnic identity among various American ethnic groups, European as well as others.

Law

The Law of the United States, American legal system also has its roots in France, French philosophy with the separation of powers and the federal system along with English law in common law.

Cuisine

* Apple pie – New England was the first region to experience large-scale English colonial empire, English colonization in the early 17th century, beginning in 1620, and it was dominated by East Anglian Calvinists, better known as the Puritans. Baking was a particular favorite of the New Englanders and was the origin of dishes seen today as quintessentially "American", such as apple pie and the oven-roasted Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving Turkey (bird), turkey, a bird that although not found in Europe has become linked in tradition and symbolism to the early European immigrants. "As American as apple pie" is a well-known phrase used to suggest that something is all-American. * Hamburger – Although the origins of the hamburger, including the country in which it was first served, are subjects of debate, the hamburger first became widely marketed in the United States and has been internationally known for decades as a symbol of American fast food. * Buffalo wings – Invented in 1964 at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York by Italian-American Teressa Bellissimo. Now popular all over the country, it has become a symbol of American cuisine. * Hot dog – Hot dogs were brought to New York by German immigrants. * Pizza – Italian immigrants from Naples brought pizza to the United States. * Fried chicken – Scottish immigrants brought fried chicken to the Southern United States. Enslaved African Americans began cooking fried chicken based on the recipes from white Scottish slaveholders.

Thanksgiving

* Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving – In the United States, it has become a national secular holiday (official since Thanksgiving (United States), 1863) with religious origins. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by British people, British settlers to give thanks to God and the Native Americans for helping the Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony), Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive the brutal winter. The modern Thanksgiving holiday traces its origins from a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the Plymouth settlers held a harvest feast with the Native Americans after a successful growing season. William Bradford (Plymouth governor), William Bradford is credited as the first to proclaim the American cultural event which is generally referred to as the "Thanksgiving#The "First" Thanksgiving?, First Thanksgiving".

Sports

* Baseball – The earliest recorded game of base-ball involved the family of the George II of Great Britain, Prince of Wales, played indoors in London in November 1748. The Prince is reported as playing "Bass-Ball" again in September 1749 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, against Lord Middlesex. English lawyer William Bray recorded a game of baseball on Easter Monday 1755 in Guildford, Surrey; Bray's diary was verified as authentic in September 2008. This early form of the game was apparently brought to North America by English immigrants. The first appearance of the term that exists in print was in "A Little Pretty Pocket-Book" in 1744, where it is called Base-Ball. * American football – can be traced to modified early versions of rugby football played in England and Canadian football mixed with and ultimately changed by United States, American innovations which led over time to the finished version of the game from 1876 to now. The basic set of rules were first developed in American universities in the mid-19th century. * Golf - Golf originated from Scotland in the 15th century, the first course in Scotland being St Andrews Links, St Andrews. The first golf course in America was founded by a Scottish people, Scot John Reid (businessman), John Reid in 1888, and was named after the first Scottish golf club Saint Andrew's Golf Club located in Yonkers, New York, from here golf soared as a national hobby, and by the turn of the 20th Century there was more than 1,000 golf courses in North America.

Music

Another area of cultural influence are American patriotic music, American Patriotic songs: John Philip Sousa in 1922

* The Star-Spangled Banner – takes its melody from the 18th-century English song "To Anacreon in Heaven" written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London and lyrics written by American Francis Scott Key. This became a well-known and recognized patriotic song throughout the United States, which was officially designated as the American national anthem in 1931. Before 1931, other songs served as the hymns of American officialdom. * Amazing Grace – written by British poet and clergyman John Newton. Popular among African Americans, it became an icon in American culture and has been used for a variety of secular purposes and marketing campaigns. * Hail, Columbia – initial presidential inauguration song up until early 20th century. Now used for the Vice President of the United States, Vice President. * Battle Hymn of the Republic – Patriotic song sung during the civil war time between 1861 and 1865.

Admixture in Whites

Some European Americans have varying amounts of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American and Native Demographics of Africa, African ancestry. From the 23andMe database, about 5 to at least 13 percent of self-identified European American Southerners have greater than 1 percent native Demographics of Africa, African ancestry. Southern United States, Southern states with the highest African American populations tended to have the highest percentages of hidden African ancestry.Scott Hadly, "Hidden African Ancestry Redux",
DNA USA*
'', 23andMe, March 4, 2014. European Americans on average are: "98.6 percent Native European, 0.19 percent Native African and 0.18 percent Native American." Inferred British/Irish ancestry is found in European Americans from all states at mean proportions of above 20%, and represents a majority of ancestry, above 50% mean proportion, in states such as Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Scandinavian ancestry in European Americans is highly localized; most states show only trace mean proportions of Scandinavian ancestry, while it comprises a significant proportion, upwards of 10%, of ancestry in European Americans from Minnesota and the Dakotas.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control European diaspora in the United States, European-American culture European diaspora in North America Ethnic groups in the United States Transatlantic cultural exchange Transatlantic relations