Founding Fathers, Immigration & Assimilation

According to a very politically incorrect history book (1) both Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton ("Founding fathers" of the USA and very often strongly opposed to each others positions) initially agreed that open immigration was "not a good thing" for their new nation and that the growth in the new USA's population should be by the natural growth of its generally homogeneous Anglo-Saxon population.

Neither could see into the a future were most new immigrants for most of our history would rush to become Americans by: Giving up (For better or worse) their hearth languages for American English (If not for them, then for their children and grandchildren); Losing most of their cultural identities, except for some comfort foods and holiday customs; And, dispersing throughout our cities and towns sometimes after historically short periods of time in ethnic ghettos, utilizing our schools to do so and fully accepting our democratically passed laws as supreme and fairer than what the old world had to offer.

O yes---There have been some exceptions to that assimilation as the Amish and some Jews and Chinese; But, for the most part, that integration continued for most and at a rapid rate.

That is, it continued until the recent influx of (Often illegal) Latino immigrants who may be able to speak English too often refuse to do so--Even when in contact with those who do not speak Spanish (eg In Miami, Florida).

Worse yet is the more recent influx of Muslim immigrants who, although most often speaking English, deny the basic justice of our Constitution and system-of-laws insisting that they should be governed by a parallel use of Sharia, that system of Islamic law which provides for the most unequal treatment of women and all non-Muslims and death for anyone who "insults" the Koran or its inventor, Mohammed.


(1) Woods, Thomas E., Jr.;
33 Questions About American History You're Not Supposed
To Ask;
Crown Forum (Crown Publishing Group); 2007