The majority of Americans trace their roots toimmigrants who arrived in what is now the United States, starting withEuropean colonization in the 16th century. This includes diverse groups such as theEnglish,Irish,Germans,Italians, and others, as well asAfricans forcibly brought asslaves during theAtlantic slave trade. However, theNative American population, whose ancestors inhabited the continent for thousands of years before European contact, are a key exception.
Despite its multi-ethnic composition,[31][32] the culture of the United States held in common by most Americans can also be referred to as mainstreamAmerican culture, aWestern culture largely derived from the traditions ofNorthern andWestern European colonists, settlers, and immigrants.[31] It also includes significant influences ofAfrican-American culture.[33]Westward expansion integrated the French-speakingCreoles andCajuns of Louisiana and theHispanos of the American Southwest, who brought close contact with theculture of Mexico. Large-scale immigration in the late 19th and early 20th centuries fromEastern andSouthern Europe introduced a variety of new customs. Immigration fromAfrica,Asia, andLatin America has also had impact. A culturalmelting pot, or pluralisticsalad bowl, describes the way in which generations of Americans have celebrated and exchanged distinctive cultural characteristics.[31]
The United States is adiverse country, bothracially andethnically.[35]Six races are officially recognized by theUnited States Census Bureau for statistical purposes: Alaska Native and American Indian, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, White, and people of two or more races. "Some other race" is also an option in the census and other surveys.[36][37][38]
The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifiesHispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverseethnicity that comprises the largest minority group in the nation.[36][37][38]
Most common European ancestry in the United States by county (self-reported) in 2020
White Americans constitute the majority of the 331 million people living in the United States, with 204,277,273 people or 61.6% of the population in the2020 United States census.[a][40][41] The US census defines "white" as "[a] person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa".[42]Non-Hispanic Whites, which only account for 57.8% of the population, or 191,697,647 people, are the majority in 44 states. There are sixminority-majority states:California,Texas,Maryland,[43]New Mexico,Nevada, andHawaii.[44][45] In addition, theDistrict of Columbia and the five inhabitedU.S. territories have a non-white majority.[40] The state with the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White Americans isMaine, while the state with the lowest percentage isHawaii.[46]
Europe is the largest continent that Americans trace their ancestry to, and many claim descent from variousEuropean ethnic groups.[47]
TheSpaniards were among the first Europeans to establish a continuous presence in what is now the continental United States in 1565 inSan Agustín, La Florida then a part ofNew Spain.[48][49]Virginia Dare (b. 1587) inRoanoke Island in present-dayNorth Carolina, was the first child born in the originalThirteen Colonies to English parents. The Spaniards also established a continuous presence in what over three centuries later would become a possession of the United States with the founding of the city ofSan Juan, Puerto Rico, in 1521.
In the 2020 United States census,English Americans 46.5 million (19.8%),German Americans 45m (19.1%),Irish Americans 38.6m (16.4%), andItalian Americans 16.8m (7.1%) were the four largest self-reported European ancestry groups in the United States constituting 62.4% of the white American population.[52] However, the English Americans andBritish Americans demography is considered a serious under-count as they tend to self-report and identify as simply "Americans" (since the introduction of a new "American" category in the1990 census) due to the length of time they have inhabited America. This is highly over-represented in theUpland South, a region that was settled historically by the British.[53][54][55][56][57][58]
Hispanic and Latino Americans constitute the largestethnic minority in the United States. They form the second largest group in the United States, comprising 62,080,044 people or 18.7% of the population according to the 2020 United States census.[b][62][63]
Hispanic and Latino Americans are not considered a race in the United States census, instead forming an ethnic category.[64][65][66][67]
People of Spanish or Hispanic and Latino descent have lived in what is now United States territory since the founding ofSan Juan, Puerto Rico (the oldest continuously inhabited settlement on American soil) in 1521 byJuan Ponce de León, and the founding ofSt. Augustine, Florida (the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the continental United States) in 1565 byPedro Menéndez de Avilés. In theState of Texas, Spaniards firstsettled the region in the late 1600s and formed a uniquecultural group known asTejanos.
Hispanic and Latino American population by national origin[68][69]
Black and African Americans are citizens and residents of the United States with origins insub-Saharan Africa.[70] According to theOffice of Management and Budget, the grouping includes individuals who self-identify as African American, as well as persons who emigrated from nations in theCaribbean and sub-Saharan Africa.[71] The grouping is thus based on geography, and may contradict or misrepresent an individual's self-identification since not all immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa are "Black". Among these racial outliers are persons fromCape Verde,Madagascar, various Arab states, andHamito-Semitic populations inEast Africa and theSahel, and theAfrikaners ofSouthern Africa.[70]African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as AmericanNegroes) are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of theblack populations of Africa.[72] According to the 2020 United States census, there were 39,940,338 Black and African Americans in the United States, representing 12.4% of the population.[73][d][74] Black and African Americans make up the third largest group in the United States, after White and European Americans, and Hispanic and Latino Americans.[62] The majority of the population (55%) lives in theSouth; compared to the 2000 United States census, there has also been a decrease of African Americans in theNortheast andMidwest.[74]
Most African Americans are the direct descendants of captives fromCentral andWest Africa, from ancestral populations in countries likeNigeria,Benin,Sierra Leone,Guinea-Bissau,Senegal, andAngola,[75] who survived theslavery era within the boundaries of the present United States.[76] As an adjective, the term is usually spelledAfrican-American.[77] Montinaro et al. (2014) observed that around 50% of the overall ancestry of African Americans traces back to theNiger-Congo-speakingYoruba of southwesternNigeria and southernBenin (before the European colonization of Africa this people created theOyo Empire), reflecting the centrality of this West African region in theAtlantic slave trade.[78] Zakharaia et al. (2009) found a similar proportion of Yoruba associated ancestry in their African American samples, with a minority also drawn fromMandinka populations (founders of theMali Empire), andBantu populations (who had a varying level of social organization during the colonial era, while some Bantu peoples were still tribal, other Bantu peoples had founded kingdoms such as theKingdom of Kongo).[79]
According to United States Census Bureau data, very fewAfrican immigrants self-identify as African American. On average, less than 5% of African residents self-reported as "African American" or "Afro-American" on the 2000 U.S. census. The overwhelming majority of African immigrants (~95%) identified instead with their own respective ethnicities. Self-designation as "African American" or "Afro-American" was highest among individuals from West Africa (4%–9%), and lowest among individuals from Cape Verde, East Africa and Southern Africa (0%–4%).[91] African immigrants may also experience conflict with African Americans.[92]
Black and African American population by ancestry group[93][71]
Another significant population is the Asian American population, comprising 19,618,719 people in 2020, or 5.9% of the United States population.[e][94][95] California is home to 5.6 million Asian Americans, the greatest number in any state.[96] In Hawaii, Asian Americans make up the highest proportion of the population (57 percent).[96] Asian Americans live across the country, yet are heavily urbanized, with significant populations in theGreater Los Angeles Area,New York metropolitan area, and theSan Francisco Bay Area.[97]
The United States census defines Asian Americans as those with origins to the countries ofEast Asia,Southeast Asia, andSouth Asia. Although Americans with roots inWest Asia were once classified as "Asian", they are now excluded from the term in modern census classifications.[98] The largest sub-groups are immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Cambodia, mainland China, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Asians overall havehigher income levels than all other racial groups in the United States, including whites, and the trend appears to be increasing in relation to those groups.[99] Additionally, Asians have ahigher education attainment level than all other racial groups in the United States.[100][101] For better or for worse, the group has been called amodel minority.[102][103][104]
While Asian Americans have been in what is now the United States since before theRevolutionary War,[105][106][107] relatively large waves of Chinese, Filipino, and Japanese immigration did not begin until the mid-to-late 19th century.[107] Immigration and significant population growth continue to this day.[108] Due to a number of factors, Asian Americans have beenstereotyped as "perpetual foreigners".[109][110]
In 2014, the United States Census Bureau began finalizing the ethnic classification of people of Middle Eastern and North African ("MENA") origins.[117] According to theArab American Institute (AAI),Arab Americans have family origins in each of the 22member states of the Arab League.[118] Following consultations with MENA organizations, the Census Bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new MENA ethnic category for populations from theMiddle East,North Africa, and theArab world, separate from the "white" classification that these populations had previously sought in 1909. The groups felt that the earlier "white" designation no longer accurately represents MENA identity, so they successfully lobbied for a distinct categorization.[119] This new category would also includeIsraeli Americans.[120] The Census Bureau does not currently ask about whether one isSikh, because it views them as followers of a religion rather than members of an ethnic group, and it does not combine questions concerning religion with race or ethnicity.[121] As of December 2015, the sampling strata for the new MENA category includes the Census Bureau's working classification of 19 MENA groups, as well asIranian,Turkish,Armenian,Afghan,Azerbaijani, andGeorgian groups.[122] In January 2018, it was announced that the Census Bureau would not include the grouping in the 2020 census.[123]
According to the 2020 United States census, there are 2,251,699 people who are Native Americans orAlaska Natives alone; they make up 0.7% of the total population.[f][127] According to theOffice of Management and Budget (OMB), an "American Indian or Alaska Native" is a person whose ancestry have origins in any of theoriginal peoples of North, Central, or South America.[127] 2.3 million individuals who are American Indian or Alaskan Native are multiracial;[127] additionally the plurality of American Indians reside in theWestern United States (40.7%).[127] Collectively and historically this race has been known byseveral names;[128] as of 1995, 50% of those who fall within the OMB definition prefer the term "American Indian", 37% prefer "Native American" and the remainder have no preference or prefer a different term altogether.[129]
Among Americans today, levels of Native American ancestry (distinct fromNative American identity) differ. Based on a sample of users of the23andMe commercial genetic test, genomes of self-reported African Americans averaged to 0.8% Native American ancestry, those of European Americans averaged to 0.18%, and those of Latinos averaged to 18.0%.[130][131] Another genetic study focusing on Native American ancestry in the general population found an average of 38% in Latinos, 1% in African Americans, and 0.1% for European American populations, respectively.[132]
As defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget,Native Hawaiians and otherPacific Islanders are "persons having origins in any of the original peoples ofHawaii,Guam,Samoa, or otherPacific Islands".[148] Previously calledAsian Pacific American, along with Asian Americans beginning in 1976, this was changed in 1997.[149] As of the 2020 United States census, there are 622,018 who reside in the United States, and make up 0.2% of the nation's total population.[g][150] 14% of the population have at least abachelor's degree,[150] and 15.1% live inpoverty, below thepoverty threshold.[150] As compared to the 2000 United States census, this population grew by 40%;[148] and 71% live in theWest; of those over half (52%) live in eitherHawaii orCalifornia, with no other states having populations greater than 100,000. The United States territories in the Pacific also have large Pacific Islander populations such asGuam and theNorthern Mariana Islands (Chammoro), andAmerican Samoa (Samoan).[148] The largest concentration of Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders, isHonolulu County in Hawaii,[150] andLos Angeles County in thecontinental United States.[148]
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander by ancestries[148]
The United States has a growing multiracial identity movement, and this group is one of the fastest growing demographics in the country.[151]Multiracial Americans numbered 7.0 million in 2008, or 2.3% of the population;[95] by the 2020 census the multiracial increased to 13,548,983, or 4.1% of the total population.[152] They can be any combination of races (White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, "some other race") and ethnicities.[153] The largest population of Multiracial Americans were those ofWhite and African American descent, with a total of 1,834,212 self-identifying individuals.[152]Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, is multiracial — his mother is white (of English and Irish descent) and his father is black (ofKenyan descent)[154][155] — though he identifies only as African American.[156][157]
Population by selected Two or More Races Population[158]
According to the 2020 United States census, 8.4% or 27,915,715 Americans chose to self-identify with the "some other race" category, the third most popular option. The vast majority of this group was Hispanic or Latino. "Some other race" formed the single largest racial group of Hispanics, with 42.2% of Hispanic/Latino Americans, or 26,225,882 people, choosing to identify assome other race, as these Hispanic/Latinos may feel the United States census does not describe their mixed European and American Indian ancestry as they understand it to be.[159]A significant portion of the Hispanic and Latino population self-identifies asMestizo, particularly the Mexican and Central American community.[160]Mestizo is not a racial category in the United States census, but signifies someone who has both European and American Indian ancestry.
Uncle Sam is anational personification of the United States and sometimes more specifically of theAmerican government, with the first usage of the term dating from theWar of 1812. He is depicted as a stern elderly white man with white hair and agoatee beard, and dressed in clothing that recalls the design elements of theflag of the United States – for example, typically atop hat with red and white stripes and white stars on a blue band, and red and white striped trousers.
Columbia is a poetic name for the Americas and the feminine personification of the United States of America, made famous by African American poetPhillis Wheatley during theAmerican Revolutionary War in 1776. It has inspired the names of many persons, places, objects, institutions, and companies in theWestern Hemisphere and beyond, including the District of Columbia, the seat of government of the United States.
English is thenational language andofficial language of the United States at the federal level.[163] Additionally, some laws—such asU.S. naturalization requirements—standardize English. In 2020, about 245 million, or 78% of the population aged five years and older, spoke only English at home.Spanish, spoken by 13.4% of the population at home, is the second most common language and the most widely taught second language.[164][165] Prior to the signing ofExecutive Order 14224 in March 2025, which declared English the official language of the U.S., some Americansadvocated making English the country's official language, as it is in at least 30 out of the 50 states.[166] Both English andHawaiian are official languages in Hawaii by state law.[167] Alaska has declared its 20 Native American languages to be official, along with English.[168][169] In South Dakota, both dialects of theSioux language have been declared official, along with English.[170][171]
While neither has an official language,New Mexico has laws providing for the use of both English and Spanish, asLouisiana does for English and French.[172] Other states, such as California, mandate the publication of Spanish versions of certain government documents. The latter include court forms.[173] Several insular territories grant official recognition to their native languages, along with English:Samoan andChamorro are recognized byAmerican Samoa andGuam, respectively;Carolinian and Chamorro are recognized by the Northern Mariana Islands; Spanish is an official language of Puerto Rico.
Religion in the United States has a high adherence level compared to other developed countries and a diversity in beliefs. TheFirst Amendment to the country'sConstitution prevents the Federal government from making any "law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". TheU.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this as preventing the government from having any authority in religion. A majority of Americans report that religion plays a "very important" role in their lives, a proportion unusual amongdeveloped countries. However, similar to the other nations of the Americas.[175] Many faiths have flourished in the United States, including both later imports spanning the country's multicultural immigrant heritage, as well as those founded within the country; these have led the United States to become the most religiously diverse country in the world.[176]
Several of the original Thirteen Colonies were established by settlers who wished to practice their religion without discrimination: the Massachusetts Bay Colony was established by EnglishPuritans, Pennsylvania by Irish and EnglishQuakers, Maryland by English andIrish Catholics, and Virginia by EnglishAnglicans. Although some individual states retained established religious confessions well into the 19th century, the United States was the first nation to have no official state-endorsed religion.[183] Modeling the provisions concerning religion within theVirginia Statute for Religious Freedom, the framers of the Constitution rejected any religious test for office. The First Amendment specifically denied the federal government any power to enact any law respecting either an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise, thus protecting any religious organization, institution, or denomination from government interference. European Rationalist and Protestant ideals mainly influenced the decision. Still, it was also a consequence of the pragmatic concerns of minority religious groups and small states that did not want to be under the power or influence of a national religion that did not represent them.[184]
American culture is primarily aWestern culture, but is influenced by Native American, West African, Latin American, East Asian, andPolynesian cultures.
Original elements also play a strong role, such asJeffersonian democracy.[189] Thomas Jefferson'sNotes on the State of Virginia was perhaps the first influential domestic cultural critique by an American and a reaction to the prevailing European consensus that America's domestic originality wasdegenerate.[189] Prevalent ideas and ideals that evolved domestically, such asnational holidays, uniquelyAmerican sports, military tradition,[190] and innovations in the arts and entertainment give a strong sense ofnational pride among the population as a whole.[191]
American culture includes bothconservative andliberal elements, scientific and religious competitiveness, political structures, risk taking and free expression, materialist and moral elements. Despite certain consistent ideological principles (e.g.individualism,egalitarianism, faith in freedom anddemocracy), the American culture has a variety of expressions due to its geographical scale and demographic diversity.
Map of the American diaspora in the world (includes people with American citizenship or children of Americans):
United States
+ 1,000,000
+ 100,000
+ 10,000
+ 1,000
Americans have migrated to many places around the world, includingArgentina,Australia,Brazil,Canada,Chile,China,Costa Rica,France,Germany,Hong Kong,India,Japan,Mexico,New Zealand,Pakistan, thePhilippines,South Korea, theUnited Arab Emirates, and theUnited Kingdom. Unlike migration from other countries, United States migration is not concentrated in specific countries, possibly as a result of the roots of immigration from so many different countries to the United States.[192] As of 2016[update], there were approximately 9 million United States citizens living outside of the United States.[193] As the result of U.S. tax and financial reporting requirements that apply to non-resident citizens, record numbers of American citizens renounced their U.S. citizenship in the decade from 2010 to 2020.[194] In 2024 a new organization was created to lobby the U.S. Congress for relief from citizenship-based taxation that is often cited as the reason for the record renunciations.[195]
^US-PH alliance 'stronger than ever'—envoy By Raymund Antonio (Manila Bulletin)"Beyond the economic and defense partnership, the US and Philippines maintain "meaningful people-to-people ties," which Carlson described is "the foundation of everything we do together." Some four million Filipinos and Filipino-Americans call the United States their home, while more than 750,000 US citizens are currently living in the Philippines, she noted."
^étrangères, Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires."Présentation des États-Unis".France Diplomatie: Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères.Archived from the original on January 25, 2022. RetrievedJanuary 25, 2022.
^abLuis Lug; Sandra Stencel; John Green; Gregory Smith; Dan Cox; Allison Pond; Tracy Miller; Elixabeth Podrebarac; Michelle Ralston (February 2008)."U.S. Religious Landscape Survey"(PDF).Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.Pew Research Center.Archived(PDF) from the original on July 5, 2013. RetrievedFebruary 12, 2012.
^*"Fernandez v. Keisler, 502 F.3d 337".Fourth Circuit. September 26, 2007. p. 341.Archived from the original on August 30, 2021. RetrievedJune 8, 2021.The INA defines 'national of the United States' as '(A) a citizen of the United States, or (B) a person who, though not a citizen of the United States, owes permanent allegiance to the United States.'
"Robertson-Dewar v. Mukasey, 599 F. Supp. 2d 772".U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. February 25, 2009. p. 779 n.3.Archived from the original on August 30, 2021. RetrievedJune 8, 2021.The [INA] defines naturalization as 'conferring of nationality of a state upon a person after birth, by any means whatsoever.'
Slotkin, Richard (2001)."Unit Pride: Ethnic Platoons and the Myths of American Nationality".American Literary History.13 (3). Oxford University Press:469–498.doi:10.1093/alh/13.3.469.JSTOR3054557.S2CID143996198.Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. RetrievedMarch 13, 2023.But it also expresses a myth of American nationality that remains vital in our political and cultural life: the idealized self-image of a multiethnic, multiracial democracy, hospitable to differences but united by a common sense of national belonging.
Petersen, William; Novak, Michael; Gleason, Philip (1982).Concepts of Ethnicity. Harvard University Press. p. 62.ISBN978-0-674-15726-2.Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2013.To be or to become an American, a person did not have to be of any particular national, linguistic, religious, or ethnic background. All he had to do was to commit himself to the political ideology centered on the abstract ideals of liberty, equality, and republicanism. Thus the universalist ideological character of American nationality meant that it was open to anyone who willed to become an American.
^Petersen, William; Novak, Michael; Gleason, Philip (1982).Concepts of Ethnicity. Harvard University Press. p. 62.ISBN978-0-674-15726-2.Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2013....from Thomas Paine's plea in 1783...to Henry Clay's remark in 1815... "It is hard for us to believe ... how conscious these early Americans were of the job of developing American character out of the regional and generational polaritities and contradictions of a nation of immigrants and migrants." ... To be or to become an American, a person did not have to be of any particular national, linguistic, religious, or ethnic background. All he had to do was to commit himself to the political ideology centered on the abstract ideals of liberty, equality, and republicanism. Thus the universalist ideological character of American nationality meant that it was open to anyone who willed to become an American.
^abc"Ancestry 2000"(PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. June 2004.Archived(PDF) from the original on December 4, 2004. RetrievedDecember 2, 2016.
^Jay Tolson (July 28, 2008)."A Growing Trend of Leaving America".U.S. News & World Report.Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. RetrievedDecember 17, 2012.Estimates made by organizations such as the Association of Americans Resident Overseas put the number of nongovernment-employed Americans living abroad anywhere between 4 million and 7 million, a range whose low end is based loosely on the government's trial count in 1999.
^"The American Diaspora".Esquire. Hurst Communications, Inc. September 26, 2008.Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. RetrievedDecember 17, 2012.he most frequently cited estimate of nonmilitary U. S. citizens living overseas is between three and six million, based on a very rough State Department calculation in 1999—and never updated.
^abThompson, William, and Joseph Hickey (2005).Society in Focus. Boston: Pearson.ISBN0-205-41365-X.
^Holloway, Joseph E. (2005).Africanisms in American Culture, 2d ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, pp. 18–38.ISBN0-253-34479-4. Johnson, Fern L. (1999).Speaking Culturally: Language Diversity in the United States. Thousand Oaks, California, London, and New Delhi: Sage, p. 116.ISBN0-8039-5912-5.
^ab"U.S. Census website".2008 Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau.Archived from the original on December 27, 1996. RetrievedFebruary 28, 2010.
^abcdefGrieco, Elizabeth M.; Acosta, Yesenia D.; de la Cruz, G. Patricia; Gamino, Christina; Gryn, Thomas; Larsen, Luke J.; Trevelyan, Edward N.; Walters, Nathan P. (May 2012)."The Foreign Born Population in the United States: 2010"(PDF).American Community Survey Reports. United States Census Bureau. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on February 9, 2015. RetrievedJanuary 27, 2015.
^Lindsay Hixson; Bradford B. Hepler; Myoung Ouk Kim (September 2011)."The White Population: 2010"(PDF).United States Census Bureau. United States Department of Commerce.Archived(PDF) from the original on September 30, 2011. RetrievedNovember 20, 2012.
^"White".Census Bureau Glossary. United States Census Bureau. RetrievedApril 22, 2025.
^Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?',Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.
^Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, 'The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns',Social Science Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44–6.
^Stanley Lieberson and Mary C. Waters, 'Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites',Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 487, No. 79 (September 1986), pp. 82–86.
^Humes, Karen R.; Jones, Nicholas A.; Ramirez, Roberto R."Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010"(PDF). U.S. Census Bureau.Archived(PDF) from the original on April 29, 2011. RetrievedMarch 28, 2011."Hispanic or Latino" refers to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.
^Sharon R. Ennis; Merarys Ríos-Vargas; Nora G. Albert (May 2011)."The Hispanic Population: 2010"(PDF).United States Census Bureau. United States Department of Commerce.Archived(PDF) from the original on January 27, 2018. RetrievedSeptember 9, 2012.
^abSonya Tastogi; Tallese D. Johnson; Elizabeth M. Hoeffel; Malcolm P. Drewery, Jr. (September 2011)."The Black Population: 2010"(PDF).United States Census Bureau. United States Department of Commerce.Archived(PDF) from the original on January 8, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2012.
^"Black Loyalists".Black Presence. The National Archives.Archived from the original on August 25, 2021. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2012.
^Nicholas Boston; Jennifer Hallam (2004)."Freedom & Emancipation".Educational Broadcasting Corporation. Public Broadcasting Service.Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. RetrievedSeptember 11, 2012.
^"Israeli, Palestinian Americans could share new 'Middle Eastern' census category".The Times of Israel. October 23, 2016.Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 28, 2022.This derives from a 1915 court ruling in Dow v. United States, in which a Syrian American, George Dow, appealed his being classified by the government as Asian. At the time, such a designation resulted in the denial of citizenship under the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
^Meizhu Lui; Barbara Robles; Betsy Leondar-Wright; Rose Brewer;Rebecca Adamson (2006).The Color of Wealth. The New Press.
^Tojo Thatchenkery (March 31, 2000)."Asian Americans Under the Model Minority Gaze".International Association of Business Disciplines National Conference. modelminority.com. Archived fromthe original on March 18, 2012. RetrievedFebruary 26, 2012.
^Lien, Pei-te;Mary Margaret Conway; Janelle Wong (2004).The politics of Asian Americans: diversity and community. Psychology Press. p. 7.ISBN978-0-415-93465-7.Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. RetrievedFebruary 9, 2012.In addition, because of their perceived racial difference, rapid and continuous immigration from Asia, and on going detente with communist regimes in Asia, Asian Americans are construed as "perpetual foreigners" who cannot or will not adapt to the language, customs, religions, and politics of the American mainstream.
^"History Crash Course #55: Jews and the Founding of America"Archived December 23, 2021, at theWayback Machine Spiro, Rabbi Ken. Aish.com. Published December 8, 2001. Accessed December 12, 2015. "The first Jews arrived in America with Columbus in 1492, and we also know that Jews newly-converted to Christianity were among the first Spaniards to arrive in Mexico with Conquistador Hernando Cortez in 1519."
^"2015 National Content Test"(PDF). U.S. Census Bureau. pp. 33–34.Archived(PDF) from the original on September 21, 2015. RetrievedDecember 13, 2015.The Census Bureau is undertaking related mid-decade research for coding and classifying detailed national origins and ethnic groups, and our consultations with external experts on the Asian community have also suggested Sikh receive a unique code classified under Asian. The Census Bureau does not currently tabulate on religious responses to the race or ethnic questions (e.g., Sikh, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Lutheran, etc.).
^Ira Sheskin; Arnold Dashefsky (2010)."Jewish Population in the United States, 2010"(PDF).Mandell L. Berman Institute North American Jewish Data Bank, Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, University of Connecticut. Brandeis University.Archived(PDF) from the original on October 25, 2020. RetrievedNovember 16, 2015.
^Carl Zimmer (December 24, 2014)."White? Black? A Murky Distinction Grows Still Murkier".The New York Times.Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. RetrievedOctober 21, 2018.The researchers found that European-Americans had genomes that were on average 98.6 percent European, .19 percent African, and .18 Native American.
^Bianchine, Peter J.; Russo, Thomas A. (1992). "The Role of Epidemic Infectious Diseases in the Discovery of America".Allergy and Asthma Proceedings.13 (5). OceanSide Publications, Inc:225–232.doi:10.2500/108854192778817040.PMID1483570.
^Thornton, Russell (1987).American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History Since 1492. Volume 186 of Civilization of the American Indian Series. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 132.ISBN978-0-8061-2220-5. RetrievedSeptember 9, 2012.From whatever cause wars may be brought on, either between different Indian tribes or between indians and whites, they are very destructive, not only of the lives of the warriors engaged in it, but of the women and children also, often becoming a war of extermination.
^Blond, Becca; Dunford, Lisa; Schulte-Peevers, Andrea (2008).Southwest USA. Country Regional Guides. Lonely Planet. p. 37.ISBN978-1-74104-713-4.Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. RetrievedSeptember 9, 2012.
^abKaren R. Humes; Nicholas A. Jones; Roberto R. Ramirez (March 2011)."Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010"(PDF).2010 Census Briefs. United States Census Bureau.Archived(PDF) from the original on April 29, 2011. RetrievedFebruary 22, 2013.
^Nocholas A. Jones; Jungmiwka Bullock (September 2012)."The Two or More Races Population: 2010"(PDF).United States Census Bureau. United States Department of Commerce.Archived(PDF) from the original on February 6, 2022. RetrievedNovember 18, 2014.
^"CIA Fact Book". CIA World Fact Book. 2002.Archived from the original on January 8, 2023. RetrievedDecember 30, 2007.
^"Religious Composition of the U.S."(PDF).U.S. Religious Landscape Survey. Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. 2007.Archived(PDF) from the original on May 6, 2009. RetrievedMay 9, 2009.
^Feldman, Noah (2005).Divided by God. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pg. 10 ("For the first time in recorded history, they designed a government with no established religion at all.")
^Marsden, George M. 1990.Religion and American Culture. Orlando: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, pp.45–46.
^Carlos E. Cortés (September 3, 2013).Multicultural America: A Multimedia Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications. p. 220.ISBN978-1-4522-7626-7.Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. RetrievedOctober 16, 2015.The dominance of English and Anglo values in U.S. culture is evident in the country's major institutions, demonstrating the melting pot model.
^Peter J. Parish (January 1997).Reader's Guide to American History. Taylor & Francis. p. 276.ISBN978-1-884964-22-0.Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. RetrievedOctober 16, 2015.However, France was second only to Britain in its influence upon the formation of American politics and culture.
^Marilyn J. Coleman; Lawrence H. Ganong (September 16, 2014).The Social History of the American Family: An Encyclopedia. SAGE Publications. p. 775.ISBN978-1-4522-8615-0.Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. RetrievedOctober 16, 2015.As the communities grew and prospered, Italian food, entertainment, and music influenced American life and culture.
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