[Note: This is the second of two articles on the United States. It covers the
topics People, Economic Activity, and Government. The entry United States (I)
provides an overview and covers the topic Land and Resources.]
PEOPLE
Prior to the discovery (1492) of the New World by Christopher Columbus the area
of the United States had an Indian population averaging only about 1 person per
13 to 26 sq./km. (roughly 1 person per 5 to 10 sq./mi. ). When George Washington
was president in 1790 the population had grown to almost 4,000,000; only 5
cities had populations exceeding 10,000. During the next 100 years the
population doubled 4 times--to about 8 million in 1815, to 16 million in 1840,
to 32 million in 1861-62, and to 64 million in 1890. By 1990 the population had
reached nearly 250 million.
Ethnic Composition
In 1990 the native American population (see Indians, American; Eskimo; and
Aleut) totaled more than 1.9 million. Of the Indians, who constitute the
overwhelming majority, approximately half live on or near some 300 reservations.
There they engage in farming and sheepherding and excel in such crafts as
pottery making, rug and basket weaving, silversmithing, and beadwork. Most
reservation land is located in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, South Dakota,
Washington, and Montana. The half of the Indian population off reservations live
mostly in cities, especially in the north, central, and western states and in
Alaska.
About 12.1% of the total population--29,986,060 persons (1990)--are African
Americans, almost all descendants of slaves. Slightly more than half are
concentrated in the southern and southeastern states, the remainder mainly in
urban centers of the northeast, north central, and Pacific states. Black
migration during the 1980s was away from northern industrial centers and toward
metropolitan areas of the South and West (see African Americans). The vast
majority of Americans, however, are descended from Europeans who were attracted
to the United States by religious and political freedom and economic
opportunities. During the colonial period most settlers came from the British
Isles and settled along the eastern seaboard; the French settled the St.
Lawrence River valley. The first great immigration wave--from 1820 to 1860--saw
the arrival of more than 5 million new Americans. Of these, 90% were from
England, Ireland, and Germany. By the middle of the 19th century the culture and
customs of western Europe dominated the United States from coast to coast.
After the Civil War, immigration increased dramatically; between 1860 and 1920,
about 29 million persons arrived. The composition of the immigrant population
had shifted, and most came from eastern and southern Europe--Russia, Poland, the
Balkans, and Italy. Unlike many earlier immigrants, they remained in the eastern
states and industrial midwestern states such as Michigan and Illinois, usually
settling in the cities, rather than continuing west. During the same period
increasing numbers of Asians, especially Chinese and Japanese, migrated to the
Pacific coast and to Hawaii. These immigrants tended to form ethnic enclaves
within the predominantly western European communities (see Asian Americans). The
white immigrants, on the other hand, mixed to a considerable degree with the
earlier western European stocks, beginning the so-called American melting pot.
The mixing process was facilitated by the public school system. In the southern
part of the country, where most blacks lived, however, the races were segregated
until the middle of the 20th century, and although diminishing, de facto
segregation remains a national problem.
The total population of Spanish origin in the United States is 22,354,059
(1990). From 1980 to 1990 the Hispanic population grew by 53%, making it the
second-fastest-growing ethnic group (after the Asian population, which grew by
107.8%). In southern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California, a
considerable percentage of the population is of Mexican-American origin (see
Chicano). Each year thousands more enter the United States, many illegally,
because of overpopulation in Mexico and greater U.S. opportunities. The arrivals
do not limit their settlement to border centers but migrate to the interior,
especially to urban areas. The eastern states have also experienced an influx of
Spanish-speaking immigrants from Central America and the Caribbean, especially
Puerto Rico and Cuba. Most live in the cities, especially New York and Miami
(see Hispanic Americans).
Religion
About 56% of all Americans give their religious affiliation as Protestant, with
Baptists outnumbering members of other individual denominations, including those
of the Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Latter-day Saints,
Pentacostalists, Churches of Christ, and United Church of Christ. About 28% of
the U.S. population are Roman Catholic. A small percentage belong to Eastern
Orthodox churches, and about 2% are Jewish. Other major world
religions--Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and some tribal religions, notably from
Africa--are lightly represented.
Demography
The annual rate of population increase in the United States is nearly 1%
(1980-90). In 1990, about three-quarters of the total population lived in urban,
including metropolitan, areas. Thirty-nine cities had more than 1 million
inhabitants in the metropolitan areas, and 24 cities had more than 500,000
residents in the city center: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus
(Ohio), Dallas, Detroit, El Paso, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Los
Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San
Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.
Urban problems have developed in many U.S. cities because large numbers of the
more affluent whites have moved out of the city centers to the suburbs. Much
light industry and other businesses have followed them. Thus many large cities
are faced with decaying downtown and residential areas--often primarily the home
of blacks and Hispanics. As a consequence the tax base of many cities has been
eroded, and almost every major city faces financial difficulties.
At the 1990 census the country's overall population density was about 27 persons
per sq./km. (70 per sq./mi. ), but great regional variations exist: New Jersey
has the highest density among the 50 states; the lightest density in the lower
48 states is in Wyoming, although Alaska has the least density of any of the
states. Between 1980 and 1990, Iowa, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming
lost population, and various other states, many in the northeastern and
midwestern regions experienced only a minuscule rate of growth. The
fastest-growing states were Nevada, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, California, and
New Hampshire. The birthrate in the United States is about 15 per 1,000
inhabitants (1993 est.), a figure higher than Canada and Western Europe. The
death rate, nearly 9 per 1,000 inhabitants, is generally about equal to, or a
bit lower than, that of the other industrialized nations.
Health and Education
In the early 1990s the United States had about 6,600 hospitals and an average of
almost 5 hospital beds for every 1,000 inhabitants. More than 547,000 physicians
were practicing. U.S. female residents have a life expectancy of nearly 80 years
at birth, whereas for males it is about 73 years. The average life expectancy at
birth for all whites is 76.4 (1991) years; for blacks it is 70 years, an
increase from 45 years in 1920. The nation's infant mortality rate is about 8
per 1,000 live births. Although this is one of the world's lowest rates, it is
surpassed by that of several European nations, especially Scandinavian
countries.
Illiteracy has been almost eliminated in the United States. The median school
years completed by U.S. citizens 25 years and older in 1990 was 12.7 years.
Approximately 20% of all Americans have 4 years or more of college.
Education is required between the ages of 5 and 16. Public primary and secondary
education is mostly locally funded. In 1991, 41.8 million pupils attended public
elementary and secondary schools; 5.2 million students attended private schools.
Of the nation's institutions of higher education, about 60% are 4-year
institutions, and the remainder are 2-year schools. Privately operated
institutions include many of the nation's most prestigious universities and
colleges. Together they enroll about 20% of all higher-education students.
Public institutions enroll about 80% of the students, and each state operates a
university system. Beginning in the 1960s, 2-year institutions grew most
rapidly; many of these community colleges are operated by counties and
municipalities. For a more detailed description of the country's educational
system, see United States, education in the.
Communications
In 1721 the New England Courant began publication in Boston. By 1991 there were
1,586 daily newspapers published in the United States, a number of them in
languages other than English. The newspapers had a total circulation of
60,700,000 (1991). Among the best-known of the dailies with circulations
exceeding 500,000 are the Chicago Tribune, New York Times, Washington Post, and
the Los Angeles Times; the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Atlanta Constitution, Miami
Herald, and Toledo Blade are also important. The Christian Science Monitor, Wall
Street Journal, and USA Today are the principal nationally circulated dailies.
The country has 4,961 AM and 4,785 FM radio stations (1992). There are about 200
million television receivers in the United States and more than 1,100 commercial
broadcast stations. Besides commercial broadcast television dominated by a few
national networks, there are 11,075 (1992) cable systems and 305 (1986)
public-television stations in operation.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Economic Development
During the colonial period, after establishing subsistence farms along the
Atlantic seaboard, the pioneer settlers developed a maritime and shipbuilding
industry. Forests provided the timbers needed for ships and homes. Until after
the middle of the 19th century wood also was the nation's principal source for
fuel, and wood ashes produced potash.
The submerged part of the coastal plain off the New England coast at Georges
Bank was and remains one of the world's great fishing areas, especially for
herring, mackerel, and cod, and the shores yielded lobsters, crabs, and
shellfish. Whaling was important during colonial times but declined after the
mid-19th century. Other economic activities in the eastern United States related
to water navigation included development of steamboats and construction of
canals around waterfalls and rapids to permit access by water to the
Appalachians and the Ohio River. During the early 19th century the falls were
also used to develop power for mills in the early stage of the Industrial
Revolution.
Mineral resources along the Eastern Seaboard were meager. Salt was produced from
seawater at evaporating pans. Iron ore was obtained from bogs. Coal was produced
from early Mesozoic formations near Richmond, Va. Manufacturing and other
industries became increasingly important when coal became plentiful because of
improved roads, canals, and newly built railroads that followed the westward
migration. Where iron and coal could be economically joined, the giant steel
industry developed, as at Pittsburgh and west to Chicago.
Political and social changes affected the economy, too. The Civil War freed the
slaves, but high prices for cotton led to borrowing to hire labor. Collapse of
the market brought ruin to the old plantation system and led to an era of small
farms.
As settlements and transportation lines spread across the central states, copper
and iron were produced in the Lake Superior region. The great asset of the
central United States, however, was and remains agricultural. The mechanized
plow and harvester were invented to reap the produce of the vast fields there,
as was barbed wire (1873) for fencing the plains farther west where trees are
scarce. In the 1860s the railroads developed refrigerator cars. Agricultural
products from the Midwest provided the basis of food-processing industries, such
as flour milling in Minneapolis and Milwaukee.
The Rocky Mountain states were first explored and exploited by fur traders
during the two decades preceding the Civil War. Gathering furs had started in
New England and spread westward across the Great Lakes region--first by the
French, later by the Hudson's Bay Company for England, and then by American
trappers and traders farther west and south, some working for companies such as
John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company (see fur trade). When gold was
discovered (1848) in California, trappers already had blazed the way. The
extensive and varied mineral deposits of the Rocky Mountains were discovered
following the California gold rush.
The economy of the western United States today is based on livestock; irrigated
farming; lumbering; metal mining (especially copper and molybdenum); energy
resources (including oil, gas, coal, uranium, and hydroelectricity);
transportation by railroad, highways, air, and pipelines and by shipping along
the Pacific coast; manufacturing; offshore fisheries; and outstanding
recreational attractions. More than two-thirds of the country's national parks
are in the West.
Alaska's economy depends chiefly on fisheries, oil, and recreation. Hawaii
produces pineapples, sugarcane, and nuts but depends primarily on income from
the large military and naval bases there and from tourism.
Contemporary Economy
By the early 1990s the gross national product (GNP) of the United States reached
about $6 trillion, the highest in the world. The per-capita income of more than
$23,000 is also among the world's highest.
Agriculture, fishing, and forestry together employ less than 3% of the total
labor force and contribute about 2% of the GNP. The leading crops, in order of
value, are corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, hay, tobacco, potatoes, peanuts,
sorghum, and rice. Most livestock is produced in the West and Midwest. The
United States is the world's leading producer of soybeans and corn and among the
leading producers of meat, wheat, and tobacco.
Forests cover about 2,960,000 sq./km. (1,142,862 sq./mi. ), and of that total
about two-thirds is timberland. Lumber production in 1991 totaled 40 billion
board feet. Income from the U.S. fishing industry was $3.3 billion in 1991. The
Pacific states--especially Alaska and California--lead the nation in the value
of their catch; Louisiana and Florida are also leading producers.
Almost one-fifth of the labor force is engaged in manufacturing, and industry
contributes about the same proportion to the GNP. In the early 1990s the value
added by manufacturing was more than $1 trillion. The leading industries in
terms of value are transportation equipment, electric and electronic machinery,
food and related products, industrial machinery and equipment, chemicals,
fabricated metal products, paper and related products, instruments and related
products, primary metals, petroleum and coal products, and rubber and plastic
products. Large corporations dominate the U.S. manufacturing sector; in 1991 the
100 largest industrial concerns held 75% of manufacturing assets. The United
States is a world leader in production and export of various types of machinery,
including office and telecommunication equipment; of transportation equipment,
such as automobiles; of industrial raw materials; and of chemicals.
In 1990 the United States produced more than 3 trillion kW h of electricity, the
highest in the world; other major electrical producers were Russia, Japan,
China, and Germany. Of the U.S. total net generation, 54.9% (1991) was derived
from coal; lesser amounts were derived from petroleum, natural gas, nuclear
power, and hydroelectricity. Some of the petroleum used for energy production is
imported. The country's total installed capacity is 741.65 million kW (1992).
Mining accounts for only about 2% of the GNP but produced $141.7 billion in
1990, about 75% of which was derived from mineral fuels--coal, natural gas, and
petroleum. The principal minerals, in terms of value, are petroleum, natural
gas, coal, stone, portland cement, sand and gravel, copper, gold, iron ore,
clay, phosphates, lime, salt, sodium carbonate, boron minerals, magnesium,
sulfur, uranium, silver, masonry cement, lead, and zinc.
As in the other highly developed countries--the so-called postindustrial
nations--the service sector, widely defined, in the United States employs the
bulk of the labor force (about 75%). It produces the largest percentage of the
GNP (also about 75%). Over 86.7 million persons work (1992) in transportation
and public utilities; wholesale and retail trade; finance, insurance, and real
estate; and services such as hotels, communications, and health care, as well as
government.
Tourism is also an important industry. In 1992, 45.4 million foreign tourists
visited the country. Among foreigners and Americans alike, the National Park
Service sites, including 50 national parks and 78 national monuments, are the
favorite destinations. Major cities--including New York, Los Angeles, and
Miami--are also important tourist magnets.
As recently as 1975, U.S. exports were 10% greater than imports. Almost 20% of
this international trade was with Canada; 17% was with other Western Hemisphere
nations; about 25% was with Western European countries; and trade with Japan
aggregated less than 10% of the total. In the 1980s, however, the U.S. trade
balance reversed, sparked by large increases in the cost of petroleum imports;
the value of imports of petroleum and petroleum products increased from $1.3
billion in 1970 to $62 billion in 1980. In 1993 the U.S. trade deficit was about
$138.6 billion.
In addition to petroleum, principal imports are automobiles, nonelectrical
machinery, electrical equipment, consumer goods, and food. The principal
industrial exports are machinery, transportation equipment, and chemicals;
soybeans and corn are leading agricultural exports.
In the early 1990s the United States had more than 6.2 million km (3.89 million
mi) of roads, including 72,871 km (45,280 mi) of interstate highway. Rail tracks
totaled 225,308 km (140,000 mi) in 1991. Of all passenger traffic in 1991, 80.7%
was by private automobile, 17.4% by air, and only 0.7% by rail. During the same
year, however, 37.4% of freight was carried by rail and 26.3% by motor vehicles.
Leading U.S. seaports include New York, New Orleans, Houston, and Baton Rouge,
La. Pittsburgh and St. Louis are leading inland ports.
GOVERNMENT
The United States has a democratic government, meaning that it is "elected by
the people and for the people." Every adult (age 18 and over) can vote, yet only
about 55% of the eligible voters exercise this right. Voters usually choose
between the two political parties that dominate U.S. politics--the Democratic
party and the Republican party.
The country has a federal system of government in which power is divided between
the national, or federal, government and the governments of the 50 states. A
third level of government is provided at the local level by municipal and county
authorities. Theoretically, the responsibilities of the different levels are
delineated in the federal (see Constitution of the United States) and state
constitutions, although actually the responsibilities overlap.
The federal government and each of the 50 state governments are divided into
three branches--executive, legislative, and judicial. Municipal and county
governments are more varied but to a considerable degree are patterned after the
federal and state models. The executive branch of the federal government is
headed by the president and vice-president, elected every 4 years. The
administrative duties of the executive branch are divided among 14 departments:
State, Treasury, Defense, Justice, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor,
Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation,
Energy, Education, and Veterans Affairs. Numerous federal agencies, including
those for regulation of the private sector (see government regulation),
supplement the activities of these departments. The secretary of each department
sits on the cabinet, the president's principal advisory body.
The legislative branch of the federal government--the Congress of the United
States--consists of a 100-member Senate, with 2 senators elected from each
state, and a House of Representatives, with 435 elected members, one for
approximately every 600,000 persons. Reapportionment for the latter occurs every
10 years. Senators serve 6-year terms and representatives serve for 2 years. All
budget appropriations originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate
must concur. Presidential appointees are confirmed by the Senate. The Senate
also has the responsibility of approving treaties with foreign governments.
Similarly, most states have 2 legislative bodies, although Nebraska has a
unicameral body of 49 members. The chief executive of each state is the
governor.
The federal judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court of the United
States--the nation's highest judicial body--with a chief justice and eight other
members appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate;
and 90 district courts, at least one in each state. They consider violations of
federal law and certain civil cases involving persons in different states.
Decisions may be appealed to the 12 U.S. appellate courts. Each state has a
system of courts paralleling the federal system.
State and local governments have responsibility for such local services as water
supply, waste disposal, police and fire protection, hospitals and health, parks
and recreation, schools, and libraries, but to a considerable degree each of
these activities is shared by all levels of government including the federal
government. The federal government alone has responsibility for national
defense, but even this responsibility is shared with the states to the degree
that each state has a national guard or militia.
Charles B. Hunt
Bibliography:
Description, Geography, and Physiography: Birnbaum, Stephen, ed., United
States,1987 (1986); Callison, Charles, ed., America's Natural Resources, rev.
ed. (1967); Clay, Grady, Real Places (1994); Least Heat Moon, William, Blue
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Empire of Reason: How Europe Imagined and America Realized the Enlightenment
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M., The Economics of Art and Culture: An American Perspective (1993); Highan,
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History (1978); Pells, Richard H., The Liberal Mind in a Conservative Age
(1985); U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States
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and the Economy (1993); Bruchey, Stuart, The Wealth of the Nation: An Economic
History of the United States (1988); Olson, James S., Dictionary of United
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Callahan, David, Between Two Worlds (1994); Crabb, C. V., Jr., American
Diplomacy and the Pragmatic Tradition (1989); DeConde, A., ed., Encyclopedia of
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Foreign Policy (1994).
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and Their Administrations from Washington to the Present, 7th ed. (1981);
Council of State Governments, The Book of the States (biennial); Domhoff, G.
William, The Powers That Be (1979); Freeman, Roger A., The Growth of the
American Government (1975); Geiger, Theodore, The Future of the International
System: The United States and the World Political Economy (1988); Harrigan, J.
A., and Elowitz, L. A., Politics and the American Future, 3d ed. (1992);
Johnson, Donald B., comp., National Party Platforms, 2 vols. (1978); Lees, John
D., The Political System of the United States, rev. ed. (1983); Lowi, Theodore
J., and Ginsberg, Benjamin, American Government, 3d ed. (1994); Lugo, L. E.,
ed., Religion, Public Life, and the American Polity (1994); Maisel, Sandy L.,
and Shade, William G., eds., Parties and Politics in American History: A Reader
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(annual); Vidich, Arthur, and Bensman, Joseph, American Society, rev. ed.
(1986).
See also: American art and architecture; American literature; American music
(c) 1997 Grolier, Inc.
