European Americans

European Ancestry in 2011

The data on ancestry—collected from 1980 to 2000 by the U.S. Census and since 2010 by the American Community Survey (ACS)—demonstrate that Americans report a variety of national, regional (such as eastern European), and pan-regional (such as European or Arab) ancestries, including those that have their roots in colonial times (such as Pennsylvania Germans) or former political entities (such as Czechoslovakian ancestry). In 2011, according to ACS data on people reporting ancestry, the top five European ancestries were the following:

• 1.
  German (reported by 47 million people): These estimates do not include over 330,000 Pennsylvania Germans, who are considered a separate ethnic group, nor 26,000 German Russians. People of German ancestry reside throughout the country but mainly in the midwest. Pennsylvania Germans are concentrated mostly in southeastern and south-central Pennsylvania.
• 2.
  Irish (34.5 million): The largest ancestry group in the northeast.
• 3.
  English (25.7 million): The prevalent ancestry in New England, Utah, and southern Idaho.
• 4.
  Italian (almost 17.5 million): In the northeast.
• 5.
  Polish (9.5 million): Mainly in the Great Lakes region.

The sixth-largest ancestry in the United States is French (8.6 million). As in the case of the German-origin population, the ACS estimates provide separate data for French Canadians (2 million) and Cajuns (a distinct ethnic group, the descendants of the French-speaking settlers from the colony called Acadia in Canada, 104,000). The French-origin groups reside mainly in Louisiana and in the northeastern part of the United States.

As most European Americans descend from more than one group because of ethnic intermarriage, the collected data provide the answers that respondents chose to give and thus may not reflect their full ethnic origin. Therefore, the subsequent year estimates may vary.

Colonial Times and Early National Period

Although the British comprised by far the largest group in the British colonies, other settlers were also attracted. Driven by either religious or economic reasons, newcomers from northern and western Europe arrived in relatively significant numbers—among them were Germans (mainly in Pennsylvania), Dutch (New York and New [Page 843]Jersey), and such religious minorities as Mennonites. The colonies were, thus, pluricultural and plurilingual. Nevertheless, as early as the colonial period some negative sentiments arose, especially toward the Irish and Germans. Benjamin Franklin himself, for example, openly expressed his concerns about the growing numbers of Pennsylvania Germans.

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