Current Situation
| Historical population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1790 | 1,500 | — |
| 1800 | 2,250 | +50.0% |
| 1810 | 2,625 | +16.7% |
| 1820 | 3,000 | +14.3% |
| 1830 | 6,000 | +100.0% |
| 1840 | 15,000 | +150.0% |
| 1850 | 50,000 | +233.3% |
| 1860 | 150,000 | +200.0% |
| 1870 | 200,000 | +33.3% |
| 1880 | 250,000 | +25.0% |
| 1890 | 400,000 | +60.0% |
| 1900 | 1,058,000 | +164.5% |
| 1910 | 1,777,000 | +68.0% |
| 1920 | 3,389,000 | +90.7% |
| 1930 | 4,228,000 | +24.8% |
| 1940 | 4,771,000 | +12.8% |
| 1950 | 5,000,000 | +4.8% |
| 1960 | 5,300,000 | +6.0% |
| 1970 | 5,400,000 | +1.9% |
| 1980 | 5,500,000 | +1.9% |
| 1990 | 5,515,000 | +0.3% |
| 2000 | 5,300,000 | −3.9% |
| 2010 | 5,275,000 | −0.5% |
(p. 64)
Note: These charts are for the U.S. core Jewish population only. 1810 is an extrapolation as figures are not available for this exact year.
| Year | % Jewish |
|---|---|
| 1790 | 0.04% |
| 1800 | 0.04% |
| 1810 | 0.04% |
| 1820 | 0.03% |
| 1830 | 0.05% |
| 1840 | 0.09% |
| 1850 | 0.22% |
| 1860 | 0.48% |
| 1870 | 0.52% |
| 1880 | 0.51% |
| 1890 | 0.64% |
| 1900 | 1.39% |
| 1910 | 1.93% |
| 1920 | 3.20% |
| 1930 | 3.43% |
| 1940 | 3.61% |
| 1950 | 3.30% |
| 1960 | 2.96% |
| 1970 | 2.66% |
| 1980 | 2.43% |
| 1990 | 2.22% |
| 2000 | 1.88% |
| 2010 | 1.71% |
American Jews continued to prosper throughout the early 21st century. American Jews are disproportionately represented in business, academia and politics. Forty percent of partners in the leading law firms in New York and Washington are Jewish. Thirty percent of American Nobel prize winners in science and 37 percent of all American Nobel winners are Jewish. An estimated thirty percent of Ivy League students are Jewish.
Demographically, the population is not increasing. With their success, American Jews have become increasingly assimilated into American culture, with high intermarriage rates resulting in either a falling or steady population rate at a time when the country was booming. It has not grown appreciably since 1960, comprises a smaller percentage of America's total population than it had in 1910, and seems likely to witness an actual decline in numbers in the decades ahead.
Jews also began to move to the suburbs, with major population shifts from New York and the Northeast to Florida and California. New Jewish organizations were founded to accommodate an increasing range of Jewish worship and community activities, as well as geographic dispersal.
Politically, the Jewish population remained strongly liberal. The heavily Democratic pattern continued into the 21st century. Since 1936 the great majority of Jews have been Democrats. In 2004 74% of Jews voted for Democrat John Kerry, a Catholic of partial Jewish descent, and in 2006 87% voted for Democratic candidates for the House. By the 1990s Jews were becoming prominent in Congress and state governments throughout the country. Jews proved to be strong supporters of the American Civil Rights Movement.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Jews In The United States
Famous quotes containing the words current and/or situation:
“I have come to believe ... that the stage may do more than teach, that much of our current moral instruction will not endure the test of being cast into a lifelike mold, and when presented in dramatic form will reveal itself as platitudinous and effete. That which may have sounded like righteous teaching when it was remote and wordy will be challenged afresh when it is obliged to simulate life itself.”
—Jane Addams (1860–1935)
“It is necessary to turn political crisis into armed crisis by performing violent actions that will force those in power to transform the military situation into a political situation. That will alienate the masses, who, from then on, will revolt against the army and the police and blame them for this state of things.”
—Carlos Marighella (d. 1969)