Immigration and assimilation are very much in the news. Much of the discourse surrounds whether the U.S. is – or ever was – a "melting pot."
The phrase has a history almost as old as the U.S. itself. In his 1782 Letters from an American Framer, J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur considered that “Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men.” Over the next century, melting, smelting, and crucible metaphors were used to describe white immigrants by other writers, including Ralph Waldo Emerson and Frederick Jackson Turner.
"Melting pot" gained popularity in 1908 after a successful play of the same name premiered. During the following decade, the concept of complete assimilation was touted as the ultimate goal of immigration.
The idea that immigrants would – and should – shed their distinctive cultural heritage and traditions to become “true Americans” lost favor following the Second World War. Sociologists and scholars began to explore new models of cultural pluralism and multiculturalism. Metaphors such as "salad bowl" or "kaleidoscope" replaced "melting pot" to describe the experiences of non-white immigrants in the U.S.
This spring, HSP continues to explore the historical context of American citizenship and immigration with its Becoming U.S. program series, drawing connections to contemporary issues confronting immigrants, refugees, and newly-naturalized citizens.