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on America. America is a nation of over 100 ethnic groups. So many immigrants from different countries brought their cultures and manners of life. It affects Americans’ life in many fields and makes American people have some unique features. I. The Rootedness of Americans For many years in history the United States has been likened to a “melting pot.” It means that as immigrants from different regions and cultures come to live in the United States, their old manners of life melt away and they become a part of the American culture. The United States is thus compared to a big pot of soup that has bits of the flavor from each different culture. [1](P167) The US population is characterized by multiplicity in terms of composition. Americans are curious about every new thing, and absorb it very fast. And Americans love freedom. America professes that it is the most democratic and liberal country in the world. All these phenomena above are expressions of American rootlessness. Why do we say that Americans are rootless? It is well-known that the United States is an immigration country. Essentially most of its people are immigrants from other parts of the world. Their mother country is not the United States. So we say Americans are rootless. It is one of outstanding characteristics of Americans. Referring to the American rootlessness, it is necessary to talk about their roots first. Many Americans have roots in Europe, Africa and Asia, except the Native American Indians. These immigrants consist of the present American nation. Of course, these immigrants have also brought their own cultures from their mother countries. A. The Native Americans Before the establishment of the United States, the Native Americans are American Indians. And they just occupy a small proportion of American population. A number of historians believe that the first American Indians were hunter gathers from Asia. They followed mammoth and went into North American.[1](P256) In order to survive, these Americans Indians began to learn to hunt and established base camps. Gradually they began to develop agriculture. They raised corn and other crops. They dispersed throughout the continent and developed their own brilliant civilizations--Maya Civilization, Aztec Civilization and Inca civilization. B. The European Immigrants The European immigrants are the largest resource of Americans. 1. The Spanish and the Portuguese After the discovery of the New World by Columbus in 1492, the Spanish and the Portuguese began to immigrate to the New World. Dreams of wealth and glory propelled the Spanish to explore there. But the Spanish Empire started to sink into its slow decline. As a result, the Spanish failed to colonize the North America. A few of them still settled there. 2. The English The English immigrants were the largest group and their culture became the main culture there. There were 13 English colonies in North America. All the colonies were founded on the land granted by the English monarch and the colonists were still regarded as English subjects. Also propelled by the desire for profits, the chartered companies with support of the English Government induced people who were not satisfied in Europe to immigrate to America. In 1607, the first successful English colony in North America was planted in Virginia.[2](P168) After the rest 12 colonies were established by the English one after another, these English colonists began to live in the colonies and e