This article focuses on European immigrants in the United States in the nineteenth century and their relationship to their leadership and the state. Ethnic leaders acted as brokers between their group and the larger society. Since the United States as a nation was conceived of in ideological terms, it was quite possible for immigrants to be loyal to the United States while retaining their national culture. Immigrants and their children could thus maintain allegiances simultaneously and in a complementary manner, to the United States and to their land of origin. This complementarity was understood almost inituitively by mid-nineteenth century immigrants. But a complementary could lead to assimilation and thus constitute a trap for ethnic leadership. Complementary identities survived in permanent tension along the nineteenth century, but their maintenance in the twentieth century became increasingly difficult.

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cultural identity nineteenth century United States European immigrant immigrant population