Professor Pamela Oliver Department of Sociology

CHRONOLOGY OF UNITED STATES ETHNIC HISTORY

Before 1500 Only Americans

The Americans Indigenous inhabitants of what are now called North and South America.
" Already here." Arrived 12,000 - 40,000 years ago. Major migration via land bridge from Siberia, spread south. Some evidence of other migrations. Urban horticultural empires in Mexico, Central America, Peru. Higher population densities, settled agriculture. Spanish colonialists added layer on top, native population still there in many places. (Will return to this for "Latinos.")

What is now US and Canada was more sparsely settled; over 300 languages. Highest estimates of NA pop in 1500 are 12 - 15 million, lowest commonly accepted is 5 million (current pop of entire state of WI). (Some extremists say as low as 2 million.) No large empires, no kings. Settled agricultural communities in some areas, especially what is now southeastern US. Small decentralized bands, sometimes organized into loose confederations, but with little centralization of power, led to varied and shifting response to Europeans. not just impose European king at the top of a hierarchy, unlike Aztecs, Incas. Europeans did enslave North Americans. Columbus got rich as a slave owner. Nevertheless, early encounters were shifting and problematic. The Americans were settled, had possession of the land. For the first two hundred years in North America (1600-1800) relations between Europeans and Americans were mixed. Some trading. Some live and let live. A lot of fighting on both sides. As the European settlements grew and got more hostile, the Americans were more and more resistant.

1500-1776 Colonial Era

European incursions

European governments "claim" America and divide it among themselves. Enslavement, pestilence and plagues, economic disruptions, warfare for the Americans. South America: Spanish conquerors put a new layer on American [indio] populations. In North America, European settlers intrude on the land, ultimately displace. African slavery + some free Africans.

Initial Confrontations: Colonial Period 1500-1800. Horses from Mexico lead to Plains culture, buffalo hunting on horseback. Fur trading leads to reorganization of economies. Some adoption of new agricultural methods, especially in the southeast. European settlement dense only along northeast coast. French and English competing to settle; each forms alliances with different American groups, who are drawn into their ongoing wars. Some groups move west, out of the way; others fight; others try to live in peace. Many die in warfare, dislocation, or disease. In first census of the new US govt in 1800, NA pop counted at 600,000. Quite a few European males married into American tribes; their mixed-ancestry descendants probably increase in relative numbers due to high death rates among Americans.

by 1800, NA pop counted by US govt at 600,000, by 1850 it was 250,000. Today 1-2 million (including mixed-ancestry who chose NA identity on census form.) What happened?

1. climactic changes had been disrupting and moving populations anyway. decline of large mammals. drying of SW. but this pre-Columbus.
   
2. horses from Mexico (Spanish) and fur trading by French. initial contacts from 1500 on started changing. development of Plains culture, shift in warfare patterns. reorganization of economies around fur trapping. intermarriage with European trappers, who usually joined the tribes. mixed Euro-Nat Am children often show up as leaders in resistance to European settlers. Populations declined as a result of warfare, shifting subsistence patterns.
   
3. diseases. 90% + death rates in some areas. Colonists took over abandoned villages, dug up graves for tools.
   
4. extermination by Europeans.

When you are thinking about what happened, it is important to realize that most Nat Ams in the New England, upper midwest area lived in relatively small bands, independent, no overarching governments, some history of disunity, breaking up. democracy. no government. Even the great empires of south were defeated, so the end result would probably have been the same, but the details were different in the north because there were lots of small groups defeated one at a time. rather in the south, conquering a hierarchy.

In some areas, particularly what is now Southeastern US, what came to be called the "civilized tribes" ( Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, Seminole ) adapted and shaped their societies in response to newcomers. The Cherokee in particular adopted European dress, converted to Christianity, settled as farmers, developed a written version of their language, modified their governmental forms so that they were very similar to those of the English colonies.

To the west, in New Spain (to become Mexico), the population is 90% + Indio with European Spanish dominant upper class. The Spaniards are trying to colonize northern New Spain with mixed success, as the [native, indigenous] Americans resist.

Europeans

Religious self-views. The Promised Land. The New Israel. Only a tiny proportion of colonists were Pilgrims/Puritans, but they became the icons of the national myth. Many different views of how to mix with the native Americans. Some thought they should live together. But others saw their situation in Biblical terms, as entering Canaan and killing all the inhabitants. Many saw the deaths of the native inhabitants as a sign from God that they were meant to be in the land. National myth is image that the Europeans arrived in 1620 and have been here since. But MOST Europeans arrived later, in floods of immigration from Europe.

Africans

"Before the Mayflower." Most European Americans think of themselves, of whites as belonging in America more than African Americans. But this is not true. Europeans and Africans arrived together.

Persons of African descent were part of the Mediterranean mix, and some of the conquistadores were Spanish of partial African descent, people who definitely would be considered "black" in the US today. Similarly, there were some Europeans of African descent and some Africans who traveled freely to the Americas in the colonial period.

Nevertheless, most of the Africans in the Americas arrived as slaves, having been captured in Africa. African slavery throughout North and South America. African slaves first landed in North America in Jamestown in 1607, thirteen years before the Mayflower. In many ways, African American labor built this country.

1607 - 1776. Colonial period.

Slaves imported. Plantation economy develops in the South. Free Blacks 5-10% of all AfAms. About 175 years of slavery before the European American Revolution.

In the early years, some Africans were treated like European indentured servants. That is, they were bound to work for a certain number of years, e.g. 17, and then were free. Throughout the Colonial period, 5-10% of the Africans in North America were free. Some free persons of African descent owned African slaves.

1776-1815 The formation of the racial state.

Europeans (calling themselves Americans) create a new government of, by, and for "white people." American Indians are excluded, treated as separate nations (generally as they wish to be). European Americans strip free Africans of their citizenship rights. The African-American movement begins as a defense against European-American actions.

1790 Immigration and Naturalization Act. Migrants from Europe can become citizens in relatively easy process of "naturalization." Only "whites" can be naturalized.
Slavery enshrined in the Constitution of 1791.
Louisiana purchase: 1803. Buy from the French land that is inhabited by Americans.

1808 importation of slaves ends. Henceforth, slaves are all native born.

War of 1812. Defeat of Tecumseh, British cannot block expansion.

1776-1795. Revolutionary period.

The European Americans separate from the British government (but the Canadians refuse to go along). They no longer see themselves as European, they see themselves as "American." They come to see themselves as the rightful owners of the continent. This is the crucial period. They form their own government. American Indians are other nations, to be fought or treated with. 1803, Louisiana Purchase, "buys" land from the French that does not belong to the French in the first place, after Napoleon had gotten it back from Spain.

Blacks support revolution. Atticus Crispus. Whites argue about whether "equality" includes blacks. Slavery written into constitution. 1791: 59,000 free blacks vs 750,000 slaves (7%). 1793: Cotton gin invented. Large cotton plantations (slave labor) central to southern economy and northern textile mills.

1795-1815. Post-Revolutionary Period.

Slave importation to US ends 1808. Whites pass laws restricting citizenship of free blacks in north. Petitions, protests; small migration to Africa. Richard Allen, AME church; Absalom Jones, Free African Society.

War of 1812. What about? Key issue was that the British were supporting the indigenous Americans. Wanted to keep a buffer between the US and Canada. Encouraged them as separate nations. The key consequence of the war was the defeat of Tecumsah in the west, and the concession of the British.

N.B. Migration of Africans to US basically stops after 1808. There is essentially zero migration from African, and only very little migration of African-descent persons from Caribbean islands. African American families have been in North America for at least 200 years, 300 years on average. Some European-American families have been on the continent as long as African Americans, but MOST are much more recent migrants. There was huge immigration throughout the 19th century, peaking in 1900. Most European Americans have ancestors who migrated to North America after 1890 or so. Almost no African Americans do. "Back to Europe"

1815-1860 Race and Expansion

European migration accelerates, especially after 1830. Immigrant hordes create population pressures, westward expansion.

Native Americans / American Indians

1824 BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) created under the War Dept. (Moved to Department of the Interior in the 20th century, after the wars are over.)

1830 Trail of Tears. Forced relocation of "five civilized tribes" from Georgia to Oklahoma. Thousands die in a thousand mile march. Area west of the Mississippi (originally Oklahoma, Kansas) is "Indian territory" to be governed by "Indians" [Americans] in perpetuity. Plains and Southwest Americans become increasingly hostile to the invaders.
Divisions over slavery grow. Free blacks become involved in abolition movement.

1837, 1842 Chippewa treaties cede what is now northern Wisconsin, Michigan & Minnesota to the US; treaties specifically reserve the right to hunt, fish, and gather on the ceded territory.

Repeatedly, European settlers move onto land specifically reserved for "Indians," battles ensue, US troops enter the battle, take land from Indians previously reserved to them. US government seeking to obtain land peacefully by treaty from as many groups as possible. Groups pacified are dumped into "Indian territory," where the groups there make room for newcomers.

Texas and the Annexation of Northern Mexico

"New Spain": Spanish colony 1521-1821 (300 years)
• Creation of "Mexicans": mixed indigenous & Spanish ancestry, Spanish culture.
• "Indios" resist, remain separate in some areas
• Most of northern New Spain never heavily settled by Spanish, strong resistance from indigenous Americans
• Mexican independence 1821, Mexican Republic 1824. Political turmoil
• 30,000 Anglo-Americans had moved into Texas, greatly outnumbering the Spanish-Mexicans; generally slaveholders
• 1824 Mexican republic abolishes slavery
• 1830 Mexico attempts to stop Anglo immigration, enforce laws against slavery
• 1836 new Mexican constitution restricts "states rights" (over slavery, among others); Anglo-Texans backed by some Tejanos (Spanish-Texans) secede from Mexico and create Texas as an independent white slave-holding state
• 1845 fearing Texas expansion west, the US annexes Texas as a slave state
• 1845. US annexes Texas.
• 1848. US provokes a war with Mexico, wins. Mexico cedes the northern half of its country to US.
• Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo guarantees citizenship rights, land rights, and right to speak Spanish and to be Catholic to all Mexican citizens in the ceded territory.
• About 7% of Mexican Americans today are direct descendants of those covered by the treaty
• Mixed experiences: some Mexicans retained land & economic status, some intermarried with Anglos. Many others defrauded of land, chased across the border by Anglo mobs. No consistent protection of citizenship, language rights.

1848 California Gold Rush. Chinese migrate in substantial numbers (along with many others). Initially into gold fields, then as laborers to support growing western economy
• Anglo-American immigrants rapidly overwhelm Mexicans in northern California, drive them out
• Fewer Anglos in desert southern California, Mexican landowners retain much of their land in large rancheros

1860-1865 US Civil War. North wins. Slavery Ends. Tremendous devastation in the south.

1865-1876 Reconstruction

Constitutional amendments: 13th (abolish slavery), 14th (all persons born or naturalized in the US have rights of citizenship regardless of race, religion, national origin, or previous condition of servitude), 15th (right of men to vote regardless of race etc.) NOTE: The 14th and 15th amendments do not apply to non-white immigrants because they are not allowed to become naturalized, but do apply to non-whites born in the US.
Union army occupies the south.
Blacks vote. Whites who have been in Rebel army cannot. Black elected officials. Some reforms. Much turmoil, resistence.
Conflicts around 15th amendment disrupt the previous coalition between feminists and supporters of African-American rights.

1868 Significant Japanese migration begins with the Meiji restoration. Most to Hawaii, but some to mainland.

1871 Indian Appropriations Act. US decides it will no longer sign treaties, will just legislate. This land belongs to Eur-Ams, who will decide what to do with AmerInds.

1877 - 1920 Solidifying the Racial State

Note: Capitalism is rising in this period.

Europeans

This is a period of extremely high immigration from Europe. Those European descendents already here violently resist newcomers. There is much anti-immigrant feeling, there are ethnic riots in the streets.

Africans

Compromise of 1876 - Union army leaves the south, agreement to let southerners do what they will about race. White southerners can vote again. 1877-1891, Republicans debate whether to continue to support blacks; after 1891, abandon them entirely.

1880s - 1890s Southern states pass Jim Crow segregation laws, amend their state Constitutions to disenfranchise blacks. 1893 Plessey vs Furgeson, "Separate but Equal," US Supreme Court effectively guts the 14th amendment.

1895-1920 Virulant racism. Presidents Taft and Wilson are explicit racists. Hundreds of African Americans are lynched (murdered) in the south. "Scientific racism" is taught in college science classrooms. (This ideology distinguishes northern (Aryan) from southern Europeans, as well as what we now understand as "races.") Explicit opposition to any form of mixing of "races."

Asians

Explicit racism also applied to Chinese, Japanese. In California, laws passed requiring school segregation, making it illegal for "persons ineligible for citizenship" to own land.

1882 Chinese Exclusion Act: No immigration from China.

1907 Gentlemen's Agreement. No more immigration from Japan. (Japan agrees to restrict.)

American Indians

The final "Indian Wars" 1870-1890. US Army battles native people on the plains, forcing them all onto reservations. Goal of US policy is to eliminate Indians as Indians. Either kill them or force them to adopt European-American ways. Boarding schools. Dispirited, broken people, starving on reservations or battling to the death.

1876 Battle of Little Big Horn. (Crazy Horse vs. Custer) The last major Sioux victory.

1887 General Allotment Act. Break up the AmerInd reservations, give land to individuals; "surplus" land to whites. Much land passes to white hands, reservations shrink by 50%.

1889 Despite treaty, the eastern part of "Indian Territory" [Oklahoma] is opened to whites in a "land run." 1893, Congress passes law calling for negotiation for the land, tribes hold out. 1895-7, gradual erosion of their position. 1898 Congress passes Curtis Act, forcing allotment and division of their other property, terminating their government. Dept of Interior takes over their schools, turns them into a public school system. 1901 Tribal citizens declared citizens of US and Territory of Oklahoma, 1907 Oklahoma admitted to the Union as a state.

1890 The Battle/Massacre at Wounded Knee. 300 Sioux, including women and children, and 25 soldiers are killed after the army breaks up a Ghost Dance.

1890 census, American population down to 200,000. Its low point.

Top

Questions or Comments? Email Oliver -at- ssc -dot- wisc -dot- edu. Last updated December 25, 2004 © University of Wisconsin.