[exstudent]

Was it a love for Native American culture that caused the original European settlers to come to the US? No, it was raw opportunity. Unless you're talking about Native American culture, then ALL culture in the US was constructed by immigrants.

Even Native Americans were immigrants as they crossed the Bering land bridge ;)

[jtzhou]

Actually, American Indian culture had developed a way of life that preserved a beautiful land in a sustainable manner, while much of the world was embroiled in war, feudalism and disease. True, there were inter-tribe rivalries as well, but the land was relatively peaceful and undeveloped compared to what Europe was experiencing with the Seven Years War, Protestant-Catholic Wars and massive civil wars at the time. I don't think the early Europeans necessarily understood Amerindian culture, but they were definitely the beneficiaries of it. If American Indians had executed a more cogent immigration policy, the transition to a modern economy would probably have been easier for the natives.

Of course, much has changed since then -- with finite resources like fresh water and land in good climates being consumed in many attractive countries.