approx. 20,000 BC	First people come to North America from Asia.
1607	First permanent English colony is established at Jamestown, Virginia.
1620	Pilgrims come to Massachusetts in search of religious freedom.
1624	Dutch settle in New Amsterdam, later New York City.
1630	Puritans come to Massachusetts; 16,000 come to Boston in next 10 years.
1638	First Swedes come to Delaware.
1677	Quakers arrive from England.
1683	Welsh and Germans settle near Philadelphia.
1619	First African slaves are brought to the English colonies.
1709	Swiss and German immigrants settle in the Carolinas.
1718	New Orleans founded by the French.
1755	In 1755, during the French and Indian Wars, the British deported French settlers from Nova Scotia. About 900 Arcadian refugees arrived in the American colonies.
1790	First Census, or counting of citizens, is authorized by Congress. Population reaches almost 4 million.
1769	Spanish establish first mission in California.
1845	Thousands of Irish begin coming to escape the famine in Ireland.
1845	First Chinese immigrants arrive in San Francisco.
1892	Ellis Island opens.
1886	The Statue of Liberty is unveiled.
1855	First Chinese immigrants come to Hawaii.
1885	First Japanese immigrants come to Hawaii.
1875	First Portuguese immigrants to Hawaii.
1900	First Spanish immigrants to Hawaii.
1900	First Korean immigrants to Hawaii.
1905	First Filipino immigrants to Hawaii.
1865	First Others (South Sea Islanders, Russians, Germans, Norwegians, other Europeans) come to Hawaii.
1880	First Italians immigrate to America.
1910	Mexicans arrive to escape Mexican Revolution.
1917	33 different groups are now excluded from coming to America.
1960's	Cubans immigrate after take-over by Castro in 1959.
1970's	Dominicans, Haitians and Jamaicans immigrate to America due to poverty and unemployment.