Research Seed Grant | 2000-2001
History of the Population of the United States
by Herbert Klein (History)
This grant will support the research for writing of the first full scale modern history of the population of the United States. The research will analyze the origins, growth and distribution of the population of the United States over time, and the causes and consequences for the changes which occurred in this demographic evolution. Such an analysis will involve a detailed study of the basic themes of birth, death and migration rates, their levels and changes over time and how their evolution compared with other contemporary societies. The time period covered in this survey will extend from debates over the estimates of the pre-contact Amerindian Population to projections of population growth in the 21st century. Each of the major ethnic and racial groups which make up this population will be examined at each major period of change in terms of their numbers, demographic characteristics and distribution. The evolution of the differing trends and demographic characteristics of the urban and rural populations; the volume of international migrations and their impact on the resident populations; the opening up of new lands and new urban centers and the influence of internal migrations and changing regional distribution of the resident population, are among the several themes which will be examined in detail in the 19th and 20th centuries. Finally, the role of government policy in terms of its response to change and its influence over national population developments also will be examined.
