During Philadelphia’s first century, its population grew rapidly as William Penn’s policy of religious tolerance and his city’s thriving economic and intellectual life attracted many settlers.
Penn’s new urban center attracted a variety of ethnic groups including Scots-Irish, Irish, Welsh, and Germans. Its population also contained a diverse mix of religious groups including Quakers, Catholics, Jews, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Baptists, Amish, and Mennonites.
Philadelphia historically prided itself on being known as a city of immigrants, and much of the population increase in the 19th and early 20th centuries came from overseas immigration.
Between 1820 and the American Civil War (1861-1865), over 80,000 Irish migrated to Philadelphia and settled throughout the city.
Immigrants from Poland moved to industrial sections like Richmond and Manayunk. By the late 19th century the city also contained a large Italian and Russian-Jewish population in South Philadelphia.
German bakers and tool and die makers crowded North Philadelphia neighborhoods. While immigration halted in the 1920s, after World War II (1939-1945) thousands of displaced Ukrainians and Lithuanians found refuge in Philadelphia.
In the 1970s Vietnamese and Koreans pressed into North Philadelphia making areas such as Olney among the most ethnically diverse in America.
This inner-city diversity often created tensions. Racial fears and neighborhood blight caused a significant portion of Philadelphia’s white population to leave the city for surrounding suburban counties after World War II.
Other factors adding to a decline of the city’s population included the erosion of Philadelphia’s industrial base and a national trend of migration from eastern cities to the warmer climate of the Sun Belt.
Whereas in 1950 Philadelphia contained more than 2 million people and ranked as the third largest city in America, the city's population plunged to 1,517,550 by 2000. In 2004, the city's population was estimated at 1,470,151.
While the city proper was decreasing in population, the metropolitan area centered on Philadelphia grew.
In 2004 the region had 6.2 million inhabitants. Philadelphia ranked as the nation’s fifth largest city in 2000; the metropolitan area was the nation’s sixth largest.
According to the 2000 census, whites made up 45 percent of the city’s population; blacks, 43.2 percent; Asians, 4.5 percent; Native Americans, 0.3 percent; and people of mixed heritage or not reporting race, 7 percent.
Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered 729 at the time of the census. Hispanics, who may be of any race, were 8.5 percent of the people.
Penn’s new urban center attracted a variety of ethnic groups including Scots-Irish, Irish, Welsh, and Germans. Its population also contained a diverse mix of religious groups including Quakers, Catholics, Jews, Presbyterians, Anglicans, Baptists, Amish, and Mennonites.
Philadelphia historically prided itself on being known as a city of immigrants, and much of the population increase in the 19th and early 20th centuries came from overseas immigration.
Between 1820 and the American Civil War (1861-1865), over 80,000 Irish migrated to Philadelphia and settled throughout the city.
Immigrants from Poland moved to industrial sections like Richmond and Manayunk. By the late 19th century the city also contained a large Italian and Russian-Jewish population in South Philadelphia.
German bakers and tool and die makers crowded North Philadelphia neighborhoods. While immigration halted in the 1920s, after World War II (1939-1945) thousands of displaced Ukrainians and Lithuanians found refuge in Philadelphia.
In the 1970s Vietnamese and Koreans pressed into North Philadelphia making areas such as Olney among the most ethnically diverse in America.
This inner-city diversity often created tensions. Racial fears and neighborhood blight caused a significant portion of Philadelphia’s white population to leave the city for surrounding suburban counties after World War II.
Other factors adding to a decline of the city’s population included the erosion of Philadelphia’s industrial base and a national trend of migration from eastern cities to the warmer climate of the Sun Belt.
Whereas in 1950 Philadelphia contained more than 2 million people and ranked as the third largest city in America, the city's population plunged to 1,517,550 by 2000. In 2004, the city's population was estimated at 1,470,151.
While the city proper was decreasing in population, the metropolitan area centered on Philadelphia grew.
In 2004 the region had 6.2 million inhabitants. Philadelphia ranked as the nation’s fifth largest city in 2000; the metropolitan area was the nation’s sixth largest.
According to the 2000 census, whites made up 45 percent of the city’s population; blacks, 43.2 percent; Asians, 4.5 percent; Native Americans, 0.3 percent; and people of mixed heritage or not reporting race, 7 percent.
Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered 729 at the time of the census. Hispanics, who may be of any race, were 8.5 percent of the people.
0 comments:
Post a Comment