After the British, which nationality is most integrated into American society?
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I'd say it is close between German and Irish. They are actually 1 and 2 in terms of ethnic groups in the US, if I'm not mistaken.
The British are not really a nationality since Scotts, Welsh and English do not really consider themselves "the same".
I would say the Dutch are really well integrated, as opposed to the Irish or Germans you do not hear much about them in context of having any ethnic identity or conciousness in the US.
In the northern USA I would definitely say German.
People of German decent in the US tossed out that identity almost entirely after WWI and WWII. There is a huge German influence on many habits, words, food, beer, etc in this country, but for having tens of millions of people of German ancestry - you rarely see much GERMAN. Especially compared to like Italian or Irish.
You can be as sure as you want. The census data clearly shows this is not the case. How can you not want to get into demographics while asking an explicitly demographic question?
I don't know that you can categorically say the British have had a greater impact "certainly more so than German" on the culture. While that's certainly true of language, I can tell you that in my region of the country German immigration had a tremendous impact on the culture, including influencing our eating and drinking habits, our work ethic, religious practices, our sociopolitical climate, et cetera. English culture certainly still predominates New England and much of the upper Eastern seaboard. In the upper Midwest the culture has been largely influenced by German and Scandinavian culture; in the Southeast it's Scots-Irish and black culture; Southwest the primary influence is Mexican/Spanish; on the West Coast it's good old-fashioned American mutt-ism with a good dose of East Asian influence. The major urban centers especially in the North from Boston down to New York and over to Chicago and St. Louis were also heavily impacted by Polish, Irish, Italian and eastern European immigration. English/British cultural influenced stopped being the biggest game in town a long time ago.
It's not just the English language, though that is a hugely important thing that binds us together as a nation. Our whole political and legal system comes from Britain. In terms of important national institutions, the British influence is far stronger than the German influence. I can't think of a single institution in our nation whose origin is German that rivals the importance of our very language, our system of laws, and our democratic political system. I do love beer, but even there, the Germans gave us pale tasteless lagers, while the English gave us delicious flavorful ales. I guess I'm just an Anglophile...
I would tend to agree with those who say British influence is the most durable. The French and Spanish didn't left that much of an imprint since 1) They didn't bring many colonists and 2) When the British / Americans took hold of those territories they pretty much started from scratch and imposed their langage, institutions, legal system, etc, asd well as sending their settlers.
I know many people are of many nationalities, but in general, people of which nationality are the most integrated into American society - in other words, most 'American American?' Btw by British I mean English, Scottish and Welsh.
In Australia it would be the Irish for sure, but in the US continental Europeans seem to represent, and many parts of the US have Irish people with a very proud Irish identity (you seldom hear of 'Irish Australians' but 'Irish American' seems more common) - that is NOT to say, of course, that makes them or any other nationality any less truly American. I'm more referring to those who seem to have lost most of their original nationality identity or had to transferred to being 'American.' Like in Australia, people aren't called 'English Australians' (even though who have been here 1-2 generations) while a fifth generation Chinese or Italian Australian is often identified as such, and less commonly as simply 'Australian.' The same seems to be the case in America. There aren't really 'English or Scottish Americans.'
Anyway, Germans seem more integrated in America for sure, and are probably less likely to be known as 'German Americans' than say 'Italian Americans.' Would they come before or after Irish in general? Which would follow after that? Maybe Northwest Europeans like Dutch, and maybe French?
I'd be interested to hear your perceptions. It's not a case of stats or demographics, more of cultural integration.
German Americans learned to keep a low profile upon the event of WWI. That's why you don't see as many fraternal organizations, churches and other groups proclaiming their German-ness.
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