America A Melting Pot Since The Beginning

America. We are just a blend of many different world cultures in one big melting pot known as the United States of America. Some believe our melting pot heritage has become a stew that is starting to bubble over. Race relations in this country have never been easy, but it seems we've reached a tipping point where immigration reform is concerned.

I believe it shouldn’t be.. the modern day United States was founded by immigration. Immigrants are simply following the footsteps of Columbus and his people looking for something new “a better life.”

As I can relate to this because my mother and father came to the United States at very young with nothing, in search for a better life. We all have our own stories….their story starts by wanting a better opportuinity. They were brave just like the others coming here with nothing, knowing no one and wanting to start a new life for their future. They just like many, had one vision and it was "The land of many opportunities." They simply wanted whats best for us. So on that note, I myself may not be an immigrant because I was born and raised here, but my roots just like every American all begins in a different country. 

All Americans come form different ethnicity's and backgrounds this is what makes us unique. 

America was founded because of immigration. So why slow it down or stop it, when we simply are all immigrants it is what makes us American? 

The United States has been the top destination for international migrants since at least 1960, with one-fifth of the world's migrants living there as of 2017. Despite its long history of immigration following Columbus its been a constant continuation. The percentage of immigrants in the United states is nearly 15% of Americans were foreign-born in 1910, while in 1999, only about 10% were foreign-born." By 1970, immigrants accounted for 4.7 percent of the US population and rising to 6.2 percent in 1980, with an estimated 12.5 percent in 2009. 

U.S. Immigrant Population and Share over Time, 1850-Present

Our nation has been made of different immigrants since the start and it keeps rising, but why stop it if its Immigrants that make America great. Our railroads, our steel skyscrapers, our farming and beef industries were all built by immigrants. Starts with the history of the Pilgrims’ arrival at Plymouth Rock we are a nation built off each other.  

So is it important to know the history and where we came from to understand how important the role of immigration is because its what makes us American. 

Liu proposes in his article "What every American Should Know"?  Hirsch Jr. published a slim volume called Cultural Literacy.  In the book was an argument—textured and subtle, not overtly polemical—about why nations need a common cultural vocabulary. Well I believe that yes, no matter how smart you are and what your skills have you need to know the basics. Not necessarily "5,000 names, phrases, dates, and concepts that, in their view, “every American needs to know.” as he stated. But simply the basics of how America began. We began following the footsteps of a brave explorer known as Christopher Columbus searching for a new home for a better life, and better opportunities.