Heritage Map from the 2000 US Census

Largest Ancestry: 2000

I have had a copy of this map posted by my computer monitor for several months now. It was created by the US Government as part of their report for the 2000 Census. This fascinating map shows a map of the heritage/ethnicity/ancestry of the largest population for each county. There is a smaller version of of the US map of heritage/ethnicity/ancestry for each state.

The Mason-Dixon line basically separates the north from the south. It also separates the German or "Pennsylvania Dutch" population of the north and west from the "American" and "African American" of the south.

Since I consider myself to be mostly of German descent and a member of the Germanic Genealogy Society, I spend a lot of time reading about and researching the German migrations to North America. It is interesting to see the influence of this migration across roughly 75% of the US. This covers almost everything outside of the south.

I grew up in Tennessee and see the contrast in this heritage map. Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, and West Virginia are the only states with majority "American" heritage.

It is interesting to see how Utah, where I now live, is almost dominated by "English" heritage. Utah, Maine and Vermont are the only states that have a majority of English heritage.

In the south from Louisiana to Maryland, excluding Florida, is majority "African American."

In the Southwest from Texas to California the heritage is primarily "Mexican."

The "4 corners" area of Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico and the north and west of Alaska are a majority "American Indian" and or "Aleut/Eskimo."

I would be very interested in seeing this map over time from the first US census in 1790. However, heritage, ethnicity, and ancestry has not always been quantified in the census so that it could be mapped and tracked as well as the 2000 US Census.