A Closer Examination of Distinct American Groups from 1877 to1930

Initially, the United States received about sixty percent of the world 's immigrants from 1820 to 1930. Population expansion in developed areas of the world, improved methods of transportation, and America 's desire to populate available space were all factors for this occurrence. Through the nineteenth century, the United States was in the midst of agricultural, and industrial expansion. The aspiration for inexpensive, unskilled labor and the profits made from importing immigrants fueled the movement. Immigrants were largely responsible for the rapid development of the country and the economy, their high birth rates increased the U.S. population.

In1880 through the mid-1920s, America experi¬enced an immigration boom, referred to as “the Great Wave,” during which immigration averaged 600,000 annually. This was the period during which the U.S. industrialized, creating a huge demand for factory workers. In 1924 and

In recent history, many Americans have had a growing concern for the immigration (both legal and illegal) growth in our country. While the United States of America was settled by European immigrants, the unprecedented growth the late 1800s saw, led to reform on the immigration policy, which once was nonexistent. Based on conditions floods of immigrants caused in the cities of the country, the immigration reform was needed. Not only were the lives of immigrants negatively impacted in the United States, but so were previously settled Americans.

and most were pleased to come. The United States used many of the immigrants who came to the U.S. by letting they come in bursts, when they wanted more or less. The tensions around immigration into the U.S. did not much change over time, people still were angry with their jobs being taken by Europeans. The United States government tried to conquer these issues by asking for a more strict enforcement of emigration by Japan and by limiting the number of immigrants allowed into the country. But these did no good, for those who supported emigration to the U.S. were not happy with so few being allowed, and those who did not want immigrants were not happy with others being let onto ‘their American soil’. But what they failed to notice is what happened because of the immigrants, without the immigrants the railroads and tram and cities would not have been built and been able to prosper. The United States’ population in cities alone grew about 15 million. Though the tensions around immigration were high, it was because of this that the United States is where it is

In the end, no one can dispute that the 1920’s presented seemingly insurmountable tension between, “Old America,” and, “New America,” in terms of religion, social conflicts, and cultural values. This tension was masked in some places by the prosperity, brought on by the roaring twenties, but still remained at large. One good side effect of these tensions was brought about though, in the sense that many precedents, which are still followed

The 1840s and 50s experienced a massive escalation in the number of immigrants from Europe especially from Ireland, and Germany, arriving on U.S shores in densely populated urban areas (Arenson, 2011). Most of them afterward became vigorous in domestic politics, much to the aggravation of old-stock, authentic Americans. The consequence was a renaissance in the formation of “nativistic” societies (small, indistinct, anti-foreign and anti-catholic organizations), some which banded together in the early 1850s to form the American Party (Arenson, 2011). Commonly referred to as the “Know-Nothing,” the party rode a wave of racial intolerance as well as racism into the mid-1850s.

The period between Reconstruction and World War I was a time of tremendous social, economic, and cultural change in the United States. The end of the Civil War, the shrinking of the frontier, the rise of immigration, and the rapid growth of industry that characterized this time period brought many issues of race, class, and status to the forefront of politics. Many different opinions came to light about what it means to be an American and the dynamic between the American individual and American society. The differing answers to these questions created both divisions and unifications between different races, classes, and political parties. Through careful analysis of historical documents from the period, it is evident that society owes all individuals basic civil rights and the ability to make a living through harnessing their skills in the workplace. Conversely, the individual owes society work that benefits society as a whole and participation in government through suffrage.

The period between 1900 and 1915 is thought to be the peak of immigration. More than ten million people came to the United States looking for a better future. The fact that these included Jews and Catholics alerted older Anglo-Saxon and Protestant American citizens. They also disliked the fact that newcomers with their Old World customs, dared to compete for low-wage jobs. As the tension over immigration rose, a series of anti-immigration measures were taken. Immigration Quota Law of 1924 and a 1929 act, both of these laws limited the number of immigrants to over a hundred thousand to be distributed among people of different nationalities as oppose to the number of the fellow countrymen already living in the United States in 1920.

DBQ: The Industrial Boom In the 1860s, industries in Europe were booming. The United States, however, was not developing very much at all. In fact, we were busy fighting a Civil War, and cleaning up the mess afterwards, so there really was not much time or money for the development of huge factories and businesses. In time, the Civil War and Reconstruction eras ended, and America was rapidly growing its industries.

Historically, immigration as a percentage of the United States population has been far higher in previous years compared to where it is now. Even as far back as 1870, the foreign-born population of the US was 5,567,229 while the US population was 38,558,371, meaning that immigrants were making up approximately 14.4% of the US population. Calculating the immigration percentage in the same way, it was 13.3% in 1880, 14.7% in 1890, 13.6% in 1900, 14.6% in 1910, and 13.1% in 1920, the last year before the first immigration quota acts were passed (US Census Bureau). During those years in which foreign-born population was steadily 13-15% of the US population, the US saw some of its largest economic and industrial growth ever in a period known as the Gilded Age (Jones). Proponents of comprehensive immigration reform would then say that if we want to see economic growth similar to that time period, we should then allow immigration at a similar rate, which would have a huge benefit on American society.

During the early 19th century, the United States experienced very huge cultural changes as well as facing various “political crisis”. The feeling of nationalism no longer existed within the country, sectionalism became a major issue not only in American society but, within its government and it’s political parties. Rather than identifying as a nation, a whole, various parts of the

Throughout culture, we see a sudden desire to reform our society into a better generation. In the late 1900’s there is an urge to revise the status quo back to the “gilded age”. With the previous ending of this golden era, citizens were going through change. These changes included many crises that the citizens were not fond of. There were documents being released with included articles in favor of white people, photos of immigrant’s families, and details over groups forming to better society. Looking through these documents, one can imagine the flaws this generation was going through and the sudden push going back to the old era.

The study of the early years of the America republic has not received the same attention from historians, as have many other periods of American history. In fact, only slavery and sectionalism, the leading causes of the American Civil War, have been consistently covered in much of the historical study of the first half of the nineteenth century. This became quite obvious with the readings that I spent time with this semester. Many were somewhat long in the tooth, yet still remained standard bearers for their topic, as further study has been sporadic or nearly nonexistent. This seems especially true of the studies that attempt to bring together the various elements in a manner that creates a big picture of the time period. Regional or social histories have dominated this period in the last twenty years and perhaps it is time for a new attempt at integrating the various pieces of the puzzle into a coherent picture. This is not to dismiss the people and groups that make the story, but to put their story back into a greater context. The numerous books I read, when pieced together, accomplish this to some degree, but this manner is incomplete, as it does not, nor were the majority of the authors intending too, create a complete picture of what America was like in the early nineteenth century. The first historian to attempt an overarching theme of the west was Frederick Jackson Turner in his Significance of the Frontier in American History. For years, Turner’s vision was

During the 1920’s the United States really became a country of immigrants, even though not everyone was on board. In this time we saw immigration numbers that would far exceed the decades that would come after it and only to be surpasses by the decade that came before in a 40 year span. Almost 4.3 million people came to the US in the 1920’s and they spanned from far and wide to come to the US. Numbers would dip in the coming decades and would not surpass the million mark for at least two decades. These numbers saw drops that would relate to immigrant life and US immigration tactics.

Life in the 1800s has taken on an almost idealistic quality in the minds of many Americans. The images linked to this era of our history are, on the surface, pleasurable to recall: one room school houses; severe self-reliance; steam-powered railroads and individual freedom.