Encyclopedia of North American Immigration

The transformation of the culture of the North American continent since the 15th century is one of the great historical events of the past 500 years. For good or bad, it has shaped the destinies of millions of people of all races, transformed the nature of international politics, and altered the concept of personal possibilities in every country. The magnitude and diversity of the migration to North America has made analysis of the process as a whole quite difficult, mainly because the peopling of North America was not a single movement but hundreds of separate movements, each with its own story, foundations, rationale, and outcome.