Steven Nolt's Approach to the Immigrant Story in the Early Republic

As the country became established, immigration was encouraged and even advertised. There were few restrictions on who can enter and where they could live. Some states were in charge of their own borders and had some policies in place. It wasn’t until the late 1700s that some began to look at what the image of America should be. This was the basis of many early

In the eyes of the early American colonists and the founders of the Constitution, the United States was to represent the ideals of acceptance and tolerance to those of all walks of life. When the immigration rush began in the mid-1800's, America proved to be everything but that. The millions of immigrants would soon realize the meaning of hardship and rejection as newcomers, as they attempted to assimilate into American culture. For countless immigrants, the struggle to arrive in America was rivaled only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the existing American population.

Americans were unsettled by the overwhelming amount of new immigrants. The new immigrants came in such massive quantities that in 1900 immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe made up as much as 70 percent of all immigrants. This is a dramatic increase considering that in midcentury these immigrants only made up 1 percent of the immigrant population. This overhaul of new immigrants led to severe hostility, bias, and nativism. Nativism is the belief that native-born white Americans were superior to newcomers. Competition for jobs and housing had never been higher in the late 19th century. America was in an economic recession and most immigrants were willing to work for much lower wages than natural born citizens which as a result put them out of work and ultimately housing. This however was only one problem, religion was another. American Protestants were suspicious of Catholicism which was the religion of many new immigrants including the Irish, German, Italian, and Polish. The majority of white Protestants would not hire, vote for, or even work with Catholics or Jewish people. In severe cases Americans would even sign contracts agreeing not to

To this day, Germans are the single largest group of immigrants to the United States, and over a quarter of Americans claim German ancestry. Over seven million German immigrants have been recorded since 1820, when official immigration records began to be kept. Germans immigrated to America primarily for economic reasons, but some Germans also left their homelands in search of religious or political freedom. They were also encouraged by their friends and family who had already found a new life in the United States. Immigrants faced a long and arduous journey before they finally reached American soil. Once they arrived in America, they typically settled in their own communities and entered the work force as skilled workers, bought

Immigrants did not have a lot of trouble assimilating to America, but there was resentment towards them in and after the years of the American Revolution. They did not have issues marrying into American families or getting jobs. English merchants were relocated during the war of 1812, and Americans forced new immigrants to register with the local government.

Joseph Healey’s “From Immigrants to White Ethnics” is a generalized comparison between the varying groups of individuals that accompanied the colossal waves of immigration to the United States from Europe in the nineteenth century. Immigration to this country resulted from a number of reason such as religious persecution, individuals seeking to find employment after industrialization in their home countries limited their livelihood, and political oppositions to name a few. On arrival the immigrants knew immediately they were of the subordinate group and faced “discrimination and prejudice” (Healey, 2012, p. 54), although some more so than others. Among the first immigrants to arrive in the United States were Northern and Western European citizens. Unlike the immigrants from Ireland and Southern and Eastern Europe that chose the United States for their new homeland these individuals were probably the most accepted by the majority, even if considered just nominally superior to the others. Included in this group were the “English, Germans, Norwegians, Swedes, Welsh, French, Dutch and Danes” (Healey, 2012, p. 56). This acceptance was due in part to the similarities that the dominate group held as ideals such as their religion, along with cultural values and characteristics. If the Northern and Western Europeans found acceptance difficult, individuals from Ireland and the Europeans from the south and east had an even more traumatic experience. Whereas the more accepted group had

The United States is made up of two different types of immigrants: those who are born on U.S. soil and those who travel to settle here. However, despite whether one is born in the United States or not for most their lineage runs back to other countries. It is evident that a majority of the U.S. first immigration wave was around the late 1800’s to the 1920’s. This was a time in which many immigrants where leaving their countries due to different reasons and finding prosperity in the U.S. In the book 97 Orchards: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement (97 Orchard) by Jane Ziegelman she explores and paints the history of five different immigrant families. The book goes into great detail sharing stories of daily

Many came from eastern and southern Europe such as the Irish, Germans, Italians and Polish. Immigrants came to America with hopes and dreams of prosperity, freedom of religion, freedom from fascism and dictatorship with the possibility of wealth and security. Many if not all of the immigrants encountered the complete opposite. Hard labor, poor living condition, low wages and illnesses were the problems often faced by the

Old immigrants were generally Northern and Western European citizens who were successful contributors to American culture and entrepreneurship. Germany, the UK, and Ireland made up the majority of the Old immigrants. These immigrants typically had better education and more money. Although they faced the force of Nativism when they first arrived, they were shortly accepted by society. They assimilated smoothly enough into America and as the 1890s began,

After America’s conclusion of conflicts from the Long Depression, the industrial state of the country economically boomed at an accelerated rate. The Germans later heard of the industrial success of the U.S.A and quickly immigrated. This industrial boom meant that, for German immigrants, a better and more successful life may be in the United States. The greater majority of German immigrants came from the Northern section of Germany, which at the time was part of Prussia. In 1882 nearly 250,000 Germans, the most German immigrants in one year, had immigrated to America. “Emmigration.info” remarks: “Nearly 1.5 million Germans left their country to settle in the United States.” (17) By the end of the 1880’s, 1,500,000 German-born people had become American

Before the American Revolution the Dutch, English, Scots and Germans were the primary settlers; they were followed in the first half of the 19th century by New Englanders spreading across developing Parts of upstate New York and into Westchester and northern long Island. The influx of European immigrants came first from Northern and Central part of Europe and later from southern countries. While often not educated, they came in large numbers; Italians came by the millions, next were Jews who came from Russia, Poland and Romania. This

14. ’05 Compare and contrast the motives and actions of Martin Luther in the German states and King Henry VIII in England in bringing about religious change during the Reformation.

        Ever since the United States was founded, immigrants have been arriving on its soil.  The first white inhabitants of the U.S. were immigrants from Europe.  They came for many reasons, such as religion and opportunity.  As the country grew and became more prosperous, it became more enticing to foreigners looking for opportunity.  This continued into the 20th century and finally during the 1920’s, the United States began to restrict immigrants from coming to their country, mostly for cultural and economic reasons.  Even the immigrants that were allowed in during the 20’s faced many hardships such as religious persecution, racism, and xenia phobia.  One of the major groups of immigrants during that

The German immigrants made up most of the immigrants between 1820 and 1860. Most of the Germans traveled to America for economic

     America, and what they faced after they landed on our shores. We will begin with the German immigrants who arrived after 1800. After 1800, Germans still poured into the United States, but for different reasons than previous generations. Modernization and population growth forced many Germans from their respective family businesses. In the United States, most Germans lived in the countryside. Large numbers could be found in the Midwest and Texas. Most of the West Coast farmers would sacrifice fertile land for a closer location to other Germans. They would cluster together to form communities not unlike the Chinatowns.