Overview

This is a fully-updated version of the first full-scale, one-volume survey of the demographic history of the United States. From the arrival of humans in the Western Hemisphere to the current century, Klein analyzes the basic demographic trends in the growth of the preconquest, colonial, and national populations. He surveys the origin and distribution of the Native Americans, the postconquest free and servile European and African colonial populations, and the variation in regional patterns of fertility and mortality until 1800. He then explores trends in births, deaths, and international and internal migrations during the 19th century, and compares them with contemporary European developments. The profound impact of historic declines in disease and mortality rates on the structure of the late-20th-century population is explained. The unusual patterns of recent urbanization and the rise of suburbia in the late 20th century are examined along with the renewed impact of new massive international migrations on North American society. Finally the late-20th-century changes in family structure, fertility, and mortality are evaluated for their influence on the evolution of the national population for the 21st century and compared with trends in other postdemographic-transition advanced industrial societies in Europe and Asia. This updated edition incorporates recent research, including data from the 2010 Census.