UNIT 2.

MULTINATIONALISM IN MODERN WORLD

PART 1. MULTINATIONAL AMERICA

Key Terms and Essential Vocabulary

1. Define the following ethno political terms used in the texts:

1. alien 9. immigrant
2. colonist 10. majority/minority group
3. citizen 11. migrant
4. emigrant 12. native/foreign-born person
5. ethnic group 13. race
6. explorer 14. refugee
7. disadvantaged minority 15. slave
8. displaced person 16. undocumented person

2. Study the following list of ethnic groups residing in the USA. Recall what you
know about their backgrounds:

African-American Greek Mexican

Asian Hispanic Portuguese
British Hungarian Puerto-Rican
Chicano Irish Pole
Chinese Japanese Russian
Cuban Jew Spanish
Dutch Italian Swiss
French Latino Vietnamese
German Native American White American

3. Read the list of word combinations below and pay attention to their meaning
and formal structure. Memorize them:

1. to be accepting of (e.g. traditions)

2. to be of (e.g. Asian, British, etc.) ancestry
3. to be assimilated into (e.g. one’s culture)
4. to be underrepresented
5. to abolish slavery
6. to accommodate (e.g. refugees)
7. to adopt customs/traditions
8. to allow entranceto apply to all men
9. to arrive by millions
10. to come on a (temporary/visitor) visa
11. to contend with prejudices
12. to convert to/into Christianity
13. to deny sb. the right
14. to extend equal privileges to sb. (e.g. to African-Americans)
15. to flee persecutionto force integration
16. to gain legal status
17. to get a start in sth (e.g. life)
18. to grant citizenship
19. to hand sth down (from generation to generation)
20. to leave an impact on sth (e.g. society)
21. to lift restrictionsto mingle and intermarry
22. to permit entry
23. to prohibit sb from sth (e.g. from doing sth)
24. to remove the barriers
25. to separate by race
26. to sneak across the border
27. to threaten jobs
 TEXT 1. History of Immigration to the United States

American immigration history can be viewed in four epochs: the colonial

period, the mid-nineteenth century, the turn of the twentieth, and post-1965. Each
epoch brought distinct national groups - and races and ethnicities - to the United
States. The mid-nineteenth century saw mainly an influx from northern Europe; the
early twentieth-century mainly from Southern and Eastern Europe; post-1965
mostly from Latin America and Asia.
In 1607 the first successful English colony settled in Jamestown, Virginia.
Once tobacco was found to be a profitable cash crop, many plantations were
established along the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Maryland. Thus began the
first and longest era of immigration, lasting until the American Revolution in 1775;
during this time settlements grew from initial English toe-holds from the New
World to British America. It brought Northern European immigrants, primarily of
British, German, and Dutch descent. The British ruled from the mid-17th century
and they were by far the largest group of arrivals, remaining within the British
Empire. Over 90% of these early immigrants became farmers. Large numbers of
young men and women came alone as indentured servants. Their passage was paid
by employers in the colonies who needed help on the farms or in shops. Indentured
servants were provided food, housing, clothing and training but they did not
receive wages. At the end of the indenture (usually around age 21) they were free
to marry and start their own farms.

Immigration before Independence

Today's American Indians call themselves Native Americans, but in reality
they were not natives there either, rather the area's earliest immigrants. They came
to the Western Hemisphere from Asia more than 20,000 years ago. By the 15th
century, there were 15 to 20 million Indians in the Americas. Perhaps as many as
700,000 were living within the present limits of the United States when
Christopher Columbus discovered the New Worlds (the Western Hemisphere) in
1492.
During the 1500s, French and Spanish explorers visited the New World. But
the first Europeans who came to stay were English. The first permanent colony in
the USA was established in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 by 104 British сolonists.
In 1620, a second British colony, consisting of 102 people, was founded in
Plymouth, Massachusetts. These were the beginnings of a nation that, by 1988, had
grown to 144 million.
In 1790, the white population of the 13 original states totaled slightly more
than 3 million. About 75% of these first Americans were of British ancestry; the
rest were German, Dutch, French, Swiss and Spanish. The British gave the new
nation its language, laws and philosophy of government.

Immigration from 1790 to 1920

American Independence did not immediately stimulate immigration.
Between 1790 and 1840, fewer than 1 million foreigners entered the country. But
between 1841 and 1860 more than 4 mln arrived. They came primarily from
Ireland, England, Germany and France. Potato crop failures in Ireland stimulated
Irish immigration. Germans came to escape economic and political difficulties.
During the last half of the 19th century, many Scandinavians came attracted by
good farmland. The Industrial Revolution and the Westward Movement gave new
immigrants a vital role in the nation’s economic development. Employers who
needed factory workers and landowners who wanted tenant for western lands sent
agents to Europe to "sell" America. Agents of steamship lines and railroad
companies attracted thousands of immigrants) with fabulous stories about the land
of opportunity.
Immigration took another great leap after 1880. Between 1881 and 1920,
23,5 million aliens were admitted. Nearly 90% of these newcomers were from
Europe, after 1882, the government kept Asian immigration to a minimum because
American workers feared that new Asian immigrants would threaten their jobs and
lower their wages.
In the 1890s, the sources of European immigration began to shift. Between
1881 and 1890, 80% of American immigrants had come from Northern and
Western Europe. By 1911 77% of immigrants had come from Southern and
Eastern Europe - Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and
areas that later became Poland and Czechoslovakia. Many of those who came from
Eastern Russia, Romania, and Poland were Jews. They started to arrive in great
numbers because of religious prosecution they had experienced in their homeland.

Immigration since 1920

U.S. immigration declined due to travelling difficulties During World War I.
After the war, Europeans once again began crowding aboard ships to the United
States. But American industry no longer needed them. During the 1920s, Congress
passed the first quota law that limited the number of European immigrants.
From 1930 to 1945 legal limits and World War II kept immigration to a
minimum. When the war ended, immigration rose sharply because entrance was
allowed to millions of people left homeless by the war. Special legislation admitted
large numbers of displaced persons, refugees, and orphans, as well as war brides.
From time to time since them, the United States has lifted immigration restrictions
to accommodate refugees and ease suffering in other parts of the world. In 1958,
thousands of Hungarians were admitted, and in the early 1960s, because of the
revolution in Cuba, more than 150,000 Cubans entered the USA. To relieve
crowded conditions in Hong Kong, several thousand non-quota Chinese were also
permitted entry. In 1979, the United States admitted more than 20,000 Vietnamese
refugees per month. In the late 1970s and 1980s, thousands of Russian Jews were
also allowed to enter.
In the 1980s, the number of immigrants actually admitted each year always
exceeded 500,000 because certain categories of applicants were excluded from the
numerical limitations. These exemptions included the parents, spouses, or minor
children of U.S. citizens. Immigration restrictions may seem cruel to those who are
living in difficult circumstances elsewhere, but they were necessary because in the
20th century, the United States' population grew at a very rapid rate. In 1915, the
population reached 100 million, it doubled 42 years later. A higher birth rate, lower
infant mortality, and longer life expectancy had all combined to cause this
population explosion.
Today Americans arе likely to have smaller families than in the 20 th century.
However, the population is continuing to increase, and about 28% of this growth
comes from immigration, Therefore, strict limits on immigration may to continue.

Who are present-day immigrants?

They are vastly different from earlier groups. Clearly, the ethnic make-up of
the United States of America is changing. From 1981 to 1985, immigration from
Europe dropped to 11% of the total legal immigration, while Asia provided about
48% and Latin America about 35% of legal immigrants. In addition, about three-
quarters of the illegal immigrants (about 500,000 per year) come from Latin
America. If the current trends continue, experts predict that, by the year 2020,
about 35% of Americans will be minority group members, primarily black
Hispanic, or Asian. Looking even further ahead, by 2090, descendants of non-
Hispanic European whites will be in the minority in the USA.

Reading Comprehension Check

1. What do you think are the main reasons for immigration?

2. When and where were the first colonies established in America?
3. What do you know about a ceiling on immigration? Does it exist in the USA
today?
4. Do you believe that immigration restrictions become necessary in modern
world?
5. What is the present day ethnic make-up of the country?
6. Are there any ethnic groups that significantly outnumber other all other
categories?
7. Why is the United States often called a melting pot? Is it really so?

Task 1. Define the statements as True or False:

1. Most immigrants have never succeeded in preserving their customs,

traditions and beliefs in the USA.
2. Religion has hardly influenced the formation of the American nation.
3. Nowadays American Indians habitually call themselves Native Americans.
4. International jet travel has facilitated travel to the USA since the 1960s.
5. Immigration has never been difficult, expensive or dangerous for those who
cross the U.S. border illegally.
6. The history of immigration to the USA is mainly the history of the country
itself
7. During the last of the 19lh century, many Russian immigrants came to the
USA attracted by gold and good farmland.
8. The Hispanic population is older than the national average and their birth
rate is generally lower than the national average.
9. Puerto Rico known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is the largest
insular territory of the United States.
10. Traditionally, Hispanics are the most successful immigrant community in the
USA.
11. In 1986, the U.S. government chose not to introduce penalties for businesses
that hired illegal immigrants.

Task 2. Match the words with their definitions:

1. Life expectancy a) A person who moves from one place to

another, especially in order to find work.
b) The migration of people into a country in
2. Emigrant violation of the immigration laws of that
country, or the continued residence of people
without the legal right to live in that country.
3. Migrant c) Protection or shelter, as from danger or
hardship. A place providing protection or shelter.
4. Segregation d) An adverse judgment or opinion formed
beforehand or without knowledge or
examination of the facts.
5. Refuge e) The number of years that an individual is
expected to live as determined by statistics.
6. Melting pot f) A person who has been forced to leave
their country or home, because there is a war or
for political, religious or social reasons
7. Refugee g) The process whereby a minority group
gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the
prevailing culture.
8. Identity h) A person who leaves one country or
region to settle permanently in another one.
9. Ethnic and cultural i) The characteristics, feelings or beliefs that
assimilation distinguish people from others.
10. Prejudice j) The policy and practice of imposing the
social separation of races, as in schools, housing,
and industry, especially so as to practice
discrimination against people of color in a
predominantly white society.
11. Illegal immigration k) A place or situation in which large
numbers of people, ideas, etc. are mixed
 together.

Task 3. Fill in the gaps:

discrimination immigrants quota restrictions illegal aliens WASP

ethnic composition penalties freedom prejudice
hyphenated americans illegal immigration

1. … — people with dual identities—reflect the belief that one can keep
one's ethnic, national, religious, or racial identity and still be an American.
2. The United States is a society of …. Many people came, and still come
today, for wealth, land, and …. .
3. Those immigrants who did not want to feel separate from the dominant
… culture learned English and adopted English customs.
4. The Nordic peoples of the old immigration expressed religious …
against Catholics and Jewish people.
5. In 1924 Congress passed … which drastically limited the number of
immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe.
6. … on the grounds of race, gender, or sexual orientation has kept many
Americans from sharing equal protection and prospects in American society.
7. Many … supply cheap labour as farm workers at harvest time or work at
menial tasks which U.S. citizens shun.
8. According to the immigration law passed in 1986 strict … were imposed
on businesses hiring illegal aliens.
9. Since the 1960s, as the … changed even more, American attitudes
towards ethnic and religious differences have altered.
10. Many people see the laws that try to control … and its social and
economic costs as an ethnocentric or even racist attempt to impose and monitor an
exclusive notion of American identity and culture.