Jacobson's Chapter Summary

In the first chapter, Jacobson argues that around the mid-nineteenth century the demographics of the United States changed dramatically.  Firstly, in 1847 there was 235,000 immigrant into the United States and half of those came from Ireland because of the potato famine(43).  During the 1840's over three million immigrant came to the United States from Europe alone(43).  Jacobson said, "It is against this backdrop that the history of political whiteness took shape"(43).  The high influx of immigrants from different backgrounds and cultures led to a new and every growing recipe for the American vegetable stew.

By the Stew Crew