United States of America

III

Population

The population of the United States is highly mobile. In the 1980s and early 1990s redistribution from the north-central and north-eastern states to the south and west continued to be a major trend, as the American population became increasingly diverse in its ethnic composition, characteristics, language, and religion.

According to the 1990 census, the resident population of the United States was 248,709,873. The population grew by 22,164,068 people—or 9.8 per cent—during the decade from 1980 to 1990. This increase was not evenly distributed: about 12 million, or 54.3 per cent of the growth, occurred in the states of California, Texas, and Florida. The population of the United States was 301,139,950 (2007 estimate). It was estimated to have reached 300 million on October 17, 2006.

Another trend evident during the 1980s was that although urban areas grew at a somewhat higher rate than rural areas, growth rates were low in some of the largest metropolitan areas, and from 1980 to 1990 the population of a number of major cities—such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit—decreased substantially.

A

Ethnic Composition

The United States is becoming a more diverse society racially and ethnically. While the total population increased by 9.8 per cent between 1980 and 1990 and by an estimated 7.4 per cent between 1990 and 1997, the black population grew by 14.2 per cent from 26.7 million in 1980 to 30.5 million in 1990 and had reached an estimated 33.8 million by 1997. The number of persons of Hispanic origin increased by 53 per cent from 14.6 million in 1980 to 22.4 million in 1990 and by an estimated 29.7 per cent to 30.0 million between 1990 and 1997. The Native American population, including Inuit and Aleut, also increased, from 1.4 million in 1980 to 2.1 million in 1990; the population grew by 12.1 per cent between 1990 and 1997, reaching 2.3 million. The number of Asians and Pacific Islanders was 7.5 million in 1990, double the 1980 figure of 3.7 million; by 1997 the number had reached 10.0 million.

These figures are accounted for both by migration from Asia, Latin America, and other areas and by higher population growth rates among blacks. During much of its history, the United States had an official policy of admitting more immigrants from Europe than from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Changes were made in immigration policy during the 1970s that resulted in large numbers of non-European immigrants entering the United States. Census figures reported for 1990 showed that whites constituted about 80 per cent of the population; blacks, 12.1 per cent; Native Americans, 0.8 per cent; and Asians and Pacific Islanders, 2.9 per cent. Hispanics, who may also be counted among other groups, made up 9 per cent of the population. According to the 1990 census, the largest group, about 58 million Americans, was partly or solely of German ancestry; Irish ancestry was reported by 38.7 million Americans, and English ancestry by another 32.7 million. Figures released in 2003 showed that the Hispanic population was the fastest growing ethnic group in the US and, numbering 38.8 million, had become the second largest minority in the country.

B

Population Characteristics

The United States is experiencing a decline in children as a percentage of the population, and an increase in young adults and the elderly. Although still increasing to 60 million, the portion of the population aged 14 and younger decreased by about 0.8 per cent from 1970 to 1992. The proportion of people aged 25 to 34 increased by 0.6 per cent during the same period, while that of people aged 65 and older grew 55.6 per cent, to 31.1 million, from 1970 to 1990. The median age of the population reported in 1990 was 32.9 years; by 1997 it had grown to 34.9 years. By race and ethnic group, the country’s white population in 1990 was oldest. Asians and Pacific Islanders constituted the second-oldest group, followed by blacks, with people of Hispanic origin forming the youngest group.

The structure of the American family continues to change in response to social and economic pressures. As more adults are postponing marriage, or not marrying at all, so are more adults ending their marriages through divorce. As the annual marriage rate per 1,000 population decreased from 10.8 to 9.1 between 1970 and 1994, the divorce rate rose from 3.5 to 4.6; after reaching a peak of 5.3 in 1981, however, the annual divorce rate actually declined during the remainder of the 1980s. Births among all unmarried women represented 11 per cent of all births in 1970; by 1993 the overall share had grown to 31 per cent.

Trends in the spatial distribution of the population continued to be uneven during the 1980s and early 1990s, as above-average growth occurred in the South and West at the expense of the north-central and north-eastern states. In 1993 the estimated population distribution was North-East, 51.4 million; Midwest, 61.1 million; South, 89.4 million; and West, 56 million. The average population density for the United States as a whole was about 33 persons per sq km (85 per sq mi) in 2007. This represents a substantial increase over the average densities of 1.7 people per sq km (4.5 per sq mi) in 1790; 3 per sq km (7.9 per sq mi) in 1850; 9.9 per sq km (25.6 per sq mi) in 1900; and 19.5 per sq km (50.6 per sq mi) in 1950.

Among the total population of the United States, the non-white and Hispanic-origin populations have remained highly concentrated. In 1995, for example, it was estimated that blacks constituted more than 20 per cent of the population in eight states: Mississippi, New York, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Maryland, and North Carolina. In the District of Columbia in 1990, 66 per cent of the population was black. About 46 per cent of the Native Americans lived in the West, and almost all of the Inuit and Aleuts lived in Alaska. Nearly half of the 7.3 million Asians and Pacific Islanders lived in California and Hawaii. About 65 per cent of the 22.4 million people of Hispanic origin resided in California, Texas, New York, and Florida.

Data from the 1980 census showed that the proportion of the population living in urban areas grew only by about 0.1 per cent between 1970 and 1980; according to the 1990 census, the pace of urban growth increased between 1980 and 1990, as the total urban population rose to a new high with an increase of 13.5 per cent over 1980. In 2005 urban dwellers made up about 81 per cent of the population, or some 242 million people. Rural residents made up 19 per cent of the population, or about 57.7 million people.

C

Religion

The religious affiliations of the inhabitants of the British colonies that formed the nucleus of the United States varied from region to region. Throughout the New England area the dominant faith was Congregationalism, established by Separatist and Puritan groups who were dissidents from the Church of England; settlers of the South Atlantic region adhered officially to the Church of England; and the Middle Atlantic region was a haven for a variety of sects and creeds.

The New England Separatists and Puritans came to North America in order to worship in their own way, without interference from the Church of England. The first group to reach New England were the Separatists called the Pilgrims, who in 1620 founded the Plymouth Colony. The colony, with its Church, was absorbed eventually by the more powerful Massachusetts Bay Colony, which was founded in 1629 by Puritans.

Religion was the focal point of social and political life in New England. Until 1691 the Massachusetts Bay Colony was a theocracy, in which church attendance was compulsory, and Church membership a qualification for voting and holding office. Non-Congregationalist denominations, notably the Baptists and Quakers (see Friends, Society of), were regarded with hostility and often persecuted by the colonial government. Noteworthy among those who rebelled against this alliance between Church and State was Roger Williams, who in 1636 left the Massachusetts Bay Colony and founded the community of Providence, located in what is now the state of Rhode Island. Williams, whose colony became a haven for people of many creeds, established the first Baptist Church in America in 1639.

In the South Atlantic coastal region, which comprised Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, the Church of England was the established Church. Clergy of non-Anglican denominations—for example, Baptist and Presbyterian—were frequently prohibited from preaching and from performing marriage ceremonies.

The Middle Atlantic colonies provided a more congenial climate for freedom of religion. The first European settlers of the Middle Atlantic region were the Dutch, who founded the colony of New Netherland in 1625, bringing to it the beliefs and practices of the Reformed Church. The first organized group of Jewish settlers in North America arrived in New Amsterdam, the capital of New Netherland, in 1654. After New Netherland was seized by the British in 1664, the Church of England became influential there, and by the beginning of the 18th century it was the established Church of the four most populous counties of New York. Delaware and New Jersey, which had been parts of New Netherland, maintained a complete separation of Church and State. The territory now comprising Maryland was granted in 1632 to the Calvert family, who were English Roman Catholics. Members of the family colonized the region in 1634 with the aim of providing a haven for their persecuted co-religionists; eventually, Anglicanism was made the established religion of Maryland. Pennsylvania, under the terms of a charter granted in 1681, was founded by the English Quaker William Penn as a haven for adherents of all religions. Lutheranism was established during the colonial period in Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware. Presbyterianism was introduced on a large scale into the Middle Atlantic colonies by Scottish and Scots-Irish settlers during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Methodists settled in the Middle Atlantic region, notably in New York, during the latter half of the 18th century.

A liberalizing influence on the religion of colonial America was the revivalist movement known as the Great Awakening, which developed in the middle of the 18th century. Inspired by the evangelical preaching of several ministers, most prominently the Congregationalist clergyman Jonathan Edwards in New England, the Presbyterian minister Gilbert Tennent in the Middle Atlantic region, and the visiting British evangelist George Whitefield, the movement eventually spread to all the colonies. The general effect of the Great Awakening was to increase the strength of the Methodist and Baptist denominations, and to pave the way for the separation of Church and State when the United States became an independent nation.

The ratification in 1788 of the Constitution of the United States marked the beginning of a new era in American religion. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” After the adoption of the Constitution those states with established religions gradually eliminated their Church-State ties; the last state to do so was Massachusetts, which disestablished its Church in 1833.

During the first half of the 19th century the population of the United States was overwhelmingly Protestant; it included relatively few Catholics and Jews, and almost no adherents of such non-Christian religions as Islam and Buddhism. The number of Roman Catholics greatly increased from about 1820 by the arrival of large numbers of Irish immigrants; as a result of potato famines more than 1 million people emigrated from Ireland to the United States between 1845 and 1855. Following the unsuccessful popular uprisings of 1848 in Germany, large numbers of German Lutherans migrated to the United States. In the latter half of the century most of the immigration was from countries in southern and eastern Europe—notably, Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Russia—from which came large numbers of Catholics and Jews.

Among the religious developments of the 19th century was the founding of several indigenous American denominations, among which were The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, known popularly as the Mormons; the Church of Christ, Scientist; the Seventh-Day Adventist Church; and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Today, the largest single American religious group consists of Roman Catholics, representing about 25 per cent of the population. Among the major Protestant groups are Baptists (19.4 per cent), Methodists (8 per cent), Presbyterians (2.8 per cent), Pentecostals (1.8 per cent) (see Pentecostal Churches), and Episcopalians (1.7 per cent; see Episcopal Church). The Orthodox Church has a large following. The largest non-Christian religion in the United States is Judaism (2 per cent), and Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism also have significant numbers of adherents.

See also Fundamentalism; Missionary Movements.

D

Language

English is the main language of the United States and is spoken by the great majority of US residents. However, nearly 32 million residents aged five or older speak a language other than English at home. Of this total, approximately 54 per cent speaks Spanish, making it the second most widely spoken language in the United States. Other languages spoken include Chinese, Tagalog, Polish, Korean, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Japanese, Greek, Arabic, Hindi and Urdu, Russian, Yiddish, Thai and Lao, Persian, French Creole, Armenian, and Navaho.