Let's Explore America. Raj Boone's Gadasalli

Colonists establish first permanent English settlement at Jamestown. Virginia.

      1636. America’s first college, Harvard, is founded at Cambridge. Mass. October 28.

      1776. 13 colonies sign Declaration of Independence. July 04.

      1789. George Washington is elected first president February 04.

      1796. John Adams is elected second president.

      1800. Thomas Jefferson is elected third president.

      1828. Noah Webster publishes American Dictionary of the English Language.

      1839. Charles Goodyear discovers the process for vulcanization of rubber.

      1860. Abraham Lincoln is elected 16th president. Seven southern states form the Confederate states of America and secede from the union.

      1861. American Civil War begins in S. Carolina. April 12.

      1863. President Lincoln issues Emancipation Proclamation granting freedom to slaves in southern states. January 01,

      July 01 – 03. Union forces win major battle at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

      November 19. President Lincoln delivers historic Gettysburg Address.

      1865. April 09. Civil war ends with surrender of confederate general Lee to Union commander Ulysses S Grant

      April 14. President Lincoln is shot while attending theater in Washington and dies the next morning.

      1879. Thomas Edison invents the incandescent electric lamp.

      1908. Henry Ford introduces the first mass produced car.

      1958. US orbit its first satellite, Explorer 1.

      1960. John F. Kennedy elected 35th president.

      1961. Peace Corpse established.

      1963. President Kennedy is assassinated. Vice President Lyndon Johnson takes over as 36th president.

      1964. President Johnson signs Civil Rights Act barring discrimination in public places based upon race or color.

      1968. Martin Luther King Jr, Civil rights leader and

      Winner of Nobel peace prize is fatally shot in Memphis, TN. April 04.

      1974. President Nixon resigns from office because of Watergate scandal. Is the first President to do so.

      1976. United States celebrates Bicentennial.

      1980. Ronald Reagan elected as 40th president. November 04.

      1984. President Reagan elected for 2nd term.

      1992. Bill Clinton is elected 42nd president.

      1996. Bill Clinton elected for a 2nd term.

      2000. George W. Bush elected 44th President. November 07.

      2001. Al-Qaida terrorists attack World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon in Washington D.C. killing thousands. September 11.

      2004. George W . Bush is elected for a second term President, with a plurality of votes. November 2.

      2008. Barack Obama, the first African- American is elected as President. November 4.

      2009. Sonia Sotomayor is sworn in as US Supreme Court justice, becoming the first Hispanic justice at the country’s apex court. August 8.

      The National Capitol in Washington symbolizes democratic government of the United States.

      The dome, completed in 1865, is crowned by the Statue of

      Freedom.

      3

      Citizenship and Immigration

      The US has one of the most liberal immigration policies in the world. Its leaders whose ancestors were immigrants appreciate the contributions of immigrants to America’s prosperity.

      The first Indian immigrant entered the United States in 1790 as a maritime worker, as part of the early commerce connections between India and the U.S. After that, the next noticeable groups of Indians came to the west- coast of the United States, in the state of Washington, entering from Canada. These early twentieth century immigrants were largely agricultural workers. In the early 1920s only about five thousand Indians resided in the Unites States. At the time Indians were denied citizenship and the right to own land in many states.

      After World War II, the U.S. desire for more professionals, particularly doctors, engineers, and entrepreneurs, facilitated the immigration of Indians. In 1946, the Indian Citizenship Bill, legalized the ability of Indian immigrants to seek naturalization and granted India a token quota of one hundred immigrants annually.

      The Immigration Act of 1965 repealed this quota making it possible for a large number of Indians to enter the US. Between 1960 and 1970 the Indian population grew from about 5,000 to 350,000. The 1990 US Census recorded the number of Indian-Americans at 815,447 and 2000 census puts this number at 1,899,599.

      The US Census bureau defines Indian-Americans as "Asian Indians." When households fill out the census they define themselves as Asian Indians, a sub-category of the Asian or Pacific Islander group. People who choose to write in more specific categories, such as Gujarati or Sikh, are still classified as Asian Indians. People are classified as Asian Indians if they are of Asian Indian origin or if they are of Asian Indian race, or if they are foreign born people from India.

      The estimated Indian population today is over 2 million (including undocumented persons - like those who come on visitor visa and decide to stay back or who enter without valid legal documentation.) After September 11, 2001 this has become an even riskier proposition. Over 30,000 Indian Physicians are providing quality health care. The IT and Teaching professions have a large number of Indian and Chinese professionals. And Indians have become one of the most valued and prosperous ethnic groups in America. Thousands of Indians live and work in Silicon Valley and many have become shining stars in the IT industry. Unlike in some of the other immigrant communities, there is hardly any organized crime in the Indian community.

      Asian perspective

      US Asian Population, 2000.

      Between 2000 and 2009 the population increased by about 4.3%.

      Immigration Basics

      USCIS – US Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly INS) is the federal authority for this. For details see Appendix 10.

      There are several legal routes for landing in the States - Immigrant visa, Student visa, Temporary work permit such as H1B visa and Tourist visa. If you need more information please contact US Department of State, US Embassy or an Immigration attorney.

      Scope and Limitations

      All types of Visa require sponsorship, either from citizen relatives in USA or from employers or by INS itself, which conducts Immigration lottery for select countries. India is not one of them.

      Tourist visa entitles a person to visit and stay in the US for limited durations as stipulated in the visa. Such a person is not authorized to work.

      A student visa as the name implies is primarily for studying in the US. Limited earning through part time work may be allowed. America is hungry for students from