http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luso-American
Luso-American >From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It has been suggested that Lusitanic American be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Luso-Americans are U.S. people with origins in Portuguese speaking countries or cultures. The presence of ethnic Portuguese in North America could be even pre-columbian, although there is lack of solid of historical evidence. Navigators like Corte-Real family have visited the North American shores. Also there is a monumental landmark, the Dighton Rock in Massachusetts that testifies their presence in the area. In September 1654, shortly before the Jewish New Year, twenty-three Jews from Recife, Brazil, arrived in New York, which at the time was under Dutch rule and known as Niu Amsterdam. It was the beginning of Jewish-American history. Sephardi Portuguese Jews were also the early settlers of Newport, RI, Charleston, NC, Phialdelphia, Baltimore. The oldest fuctioning synagogue in America is the Portuguese Touro Synagogue in Newport Rhode Island. There are a mixed people in the South, the Melungeons, who claims to be "Portuguee" and their surnames and some DNA seem to confirm their Lusitan ancestry. In the late 1800s many Portuguese, mainly Azorean and Madeiran immigrated to US, establishing in cities like New Bedford, Massachusetts, Fall River, Massachusetts, Newark, New Jersey, and Jacksonville, Illinois. Also many others of Portuguese culture came to the United States: Mainland Portugueses (mostly from Minho and Porto concentrated around the Tri-state area. Indian-Portugueses (from Goa), Brazilians, Cape Verdean, Galicians (concentrated in Puerto Rico, Florida and New Jersey), re-immigrants from South Africa, North Europe, Caribbean, Venezuela, and Creole-speaking from Senegal, Upper Guinea, Dutch Antilles, etc. Despite of these, Luso-Americans may belong to any races: African, Asian, European, Middle Easterner, and Native American. These may include Chinese and Macanese from Brazil and Macau; and Brazilians of Japanese, Korean, German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Polish, Russian, Scottish, Yugoslav, Guaraní, Tupi, and Arab ( Lebanese and Syrian) descent. Although Luso-American can be found in all states, there are a sizeable Luso-American community in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Florida. At the total number this community may outnumber 3,5 millions Luso-Americans. Through times, many Portuguese had their names changed, Luis to Lewis, Pavao to Peacock, Rodrigues to Rogers, Ferreira to Ferry, Pereira to Perry, Oliveira to Oliver.
