Thursday, January 20, 2010 The U.S: A Salad Bowl or a Melting Pot? By Alexandra Phelps {draw:frame} American society has often been described as a melting pot but in recent years, it has also attracted other definitions such as " salad bowl ". For centuries, the US has attracted people in search of a share of "the American dream" from all corners of the world. In fact, US history is one of immigration. In 1620, about 100 English colonists, so-called "Mayflower Pilgrims" left for America seeking religious freedom. They landed near Plymouth, marking an early European migration to North America, which had been inhabited by Amerindian people for more than 16,000 years. A year later, the colonists and Indian tribes joined for the first Thanksgiving meal which lasted 3 days after a successful harvest. These are the first signs of a melting pot in the US. A decrease in the Native Americans population was noticed in the 18th century, the mid centuries of the European settlers. The Europeans introduced money, guns and religion to America – they also brought diseases such as small pox and measles which were fatal for the Native Americans who had not created an immunity to them. Furthermore, French and British wars against the Native Americans and amongst themselves broke out ending in a genocide through pox infected blankets. Over the years of the Europeans migration in the US, slavery was brought to America by the incoming of African slaves - many were sent to the Sugar Islands of the Caribbean. The African and African-Americans who were turned into slaves lived in awful conditions – whipped and starved, most of them never went to school, never learning to read or write. The Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted in 1776 which announced the freedom of the 13 colonies of America written by Thomas Jefferson and signed by Congress. It became an important argument in the slavery revolution. Slavery was finally abolished in 1865