assimilation

Examples of assimilation in the following topics:

• Coercive Patriotism

  • "Americanization" was a process during WWI in which foreign-born Americans were encouraged to assimilate American culture and ethics.
  • The short-term concern was their loyalty to their native countries and the long-term was their assimilation into American society.
  • Despite efforts to assimilate immigrants, some German-Americans were accused of being sympathetic to the German Empire.
  • Describe how foreign-born ethnic minorities were forced to assimilate into American culture through the process of "Americanization."

• American Indian Policy

  • Congress passed the General Allotment Act, which is considered one of the earliest attempts aimed toward assimilation of native tribes.
  • This period of allotment of tribal lands became known as the "Allotment and Assimilation Era" because the main goal of apportioning tribal land was to integrate native peoples into mainstream American society.
  • Allowing native peoples to live their lives according to traditional practices and teachings on the reservation was forbidden; thus, assimilation became the epitome of Federal Indian Policy.
  • The stated objective of the Dawes Act was to stimulate assimilation of Indians into American society.

• American Indians and the New Nation

  • The cultural assimilation of American Indians was an assimilation effort by the United States to transform American Indian culture to European-American culture between the years of 1790 and 1920.
  • Washington developed a six-point plan for this assimilation process that included:
  • These societies encouraged the assimilation and Christianization of American Indians.

• American Indian Policy and the Trail of Tears

  • Since the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, The U.S. policy had been to allow American Indians to remain east of the Mississippi while simultaneously forcing them to assimilate and become "civilized."
  • Jackson abandoned the policy of Jefferson and other predecessors and instead aggressively pursued plans to remove all American Indian tribes living in the southeastern states, regardless of whether they had assimilated to white culture or become "civilized."
  • By the 1830s, many of the five major tribes in that area had assimilated into the dominant culture; some even owned slaves.

• Irish Immigration

  • As they assimilated, Irish Americans contributed to U.S. culture in a wide variety of fields, such as the fine and performing arts, film, literature, politics, sports, and religion.

• Americanization and Pluralism

  • Still, the question of whether they were politically American or still harbored loyalties to their native countries brought about a widespread push for "Americanization" of immigrants, which included efforts by the government and private organizations to ensure they embraced full, long-term assimilation into American society.

• Colonial Government

  • Although each group assimilated into the dominant English Protestant commercial and political culture, they tended to vote in blocs and politicians often negotiated with group leaders for support.

• Gay and Lesbian Rights

  • The homophile movement lobbied to establish a prominent influence in political systems of social acceptability; radicals of the 1970s would later disparage the homophile groups for trying to assimilate into mainstream culture rather than being proud of their differences.
  • Soon after, several women in San Francisco met in their living rooms to form the Daughters of Bilitis (DOB) for lesbians, and as the DOB grew they developed similar goals to the Mattachine, urging their members to assimilate into general society.

• American Indian Relocation

  • Indian termination policy of the United States (mid-1940s to the mid-1960s) intended to assimilate American Indians (herein referred to as "Indians" for historical context) into mainstream American society.
  • Assimilation was not new.

• American Indians and the War Effort

  • Many military awards offered to American Indian soldiers were later used during the termination period by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as proof that American Indians were eager to assimilate into white mainstream American culture.