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How Have Diverse People Worked to Build America?

They came from everywhere in search of a better life. They became “We the People.”

Native Americans made their way to the North American continent thousands of years ago and established nations that spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Europeans, Africans and Asians came, and by the late 1800s, immigrants were pouring into the United States in record numbers. These immigrants joined the descendants of those who had come previously, often having to overcome prejudices directed against newcomers.

While people of Spanish and Mexican heritage have been in what is now the American southwest since long before this region became part of the United States, immigration from Mexico and other nations of Latin America grew dramatically in the 20th century.

People from around the world built the United States. They worked on the farms, in the mines, on the railroads, in the factories, in every kind of job. Many suffered hardships beyond description. Some groups faced extraordinary obstacles to immigration. And yet they came, and continue to come, from Latin America and the Caribbean, from Asia, from Africa, from Europe, people of every language, culture and faith. Together, they continue to build America.