Immigration In The Late 1800s

During the late 1800s and early 1900s immigration to a new better world, the United States Of America was in full swing. With all the immigration from so many different countries brought much diversity to America but it also brought a new type of crime, Organized Crime. This was due to a part that the Italian Sicilian Mafia was under attack from Mussolini regime but also the creation of the 18th amendment banning the sales, manufacturing, or transportation of any alcoholic beverage.

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.

Immigration has always been a major part of America. In fact, without immigration the creation of America would not have been possible. The majority of immigrants came to America for religious freedom and economic opportunities. However, for the most part before the 1870’s most immigrants were Protestants from northern and western Europe. These immigrants often migrated to the United States as families and usually lived on farms with family or friends who had already migrated beforehand. A lot of immigrants came to America with a plan or goal in mind. They often had saved up money for the long immigration overseas, were skilled in a certain trade, or had already been educated at a high level. Sadly, this would not last. Immigration

Immigration through out the late 1800’s and early 1900’s created nativism throughout the United States. Millions of immigrants flocked to the United States trying to find a better way of life to be able to support their families. Industrialization in the United States provided a labor source for the immigrants. Native born Americans believed immigrants were a “threat to the American way of life” (ATF chapter 11) Social and economic fault lines developed between natives and immigrants, through out the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, going unnoticed until the late 1920’s when the Sacco and Vanzetti case brought awareness of issue to much of the United States.

It seems that the word Immigration has took on a new meaning as for it once meant. Immigration is the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. It has always been a hot topic in our society because of all the controversy behind it, About whose land is actually theirs. It all starts in 1620, when the mayflower for the first time in history touches american soil, And changes the way history would unfold and the very way we live today. They came from England, searching for vast freedom from a corrupt, indigenous society seeking freedom of religion and the thought, ironically searching for the American dream before it became a phrase. They would stumble across humble , spiritual, and land loving givers who would eventually train these new pilgrims on how to live off the good god living land. Things would soon take a turn for the worst when disputes over land came abroad, this ended in a bloody battle leaving the pilgrims victorious with their new land. But history is always prone to repetitiveness once the 1700's came.

Migration took on many forms in the US in the late 1800s. Not only did immigrants come from Europe and China, there was also migration within the US. Farmers had to migrate east because of their failing farms, and some blacks had to migrate within their own wards because parts of them had become such horrid slums. The cause of all this migration can be boiled down into one word. Industrialization caused the influx of immigrants because of the need for labor in America, this influx led to the formation of slums due to the high numbers of immigrants coming over.

Around the late 1800’s and early 1900’s America’s ethnicity vastly expanded; the streets of New York city flooded with immigrants in prospect of new lives for their families and fresh starts. “...From eastern and southern Europe rather than western and northern Europe…” (pg. 738, America A Narrative History), the geography varied far and wide. Upon entering the land of freedom, most of the immigrants were to be inspected at the ever famous “Edison Island” in New York. After embarking towards the substantially immense crowds, lice checks, welfare checks, and possibly a standard test determining if you could read or write was given. The streets began to be bustling with foreign languages being shouted in every direction. To some “nativists” this expansion was very horrifying, these people were taking jobs and depriving Americans of opportunities. “Beginning in the 1880’s, nativist advocated restrictive immigration laws and won passage of the Chinese exclusion Act.” (

From 1815 to 1850, five million Europeans immigrated to the United States, and three of those five million arrived within just a decade from 1845-1854. This was the largest immigration America had seen compared to its total population. Most of the immigrants were either Irish or German, but they all had one thing in common: they wanted better lives for their families. In their home countries, they often experienced religious persecution or had little economic opportunity. Many heard the exaggerated stories of the abundant American farmland and widespread freedom, making them more eager to settle there.

Then in the second half of 1800s, precisely in 1850, the United States Census reviewed the "nativity" of citizens, both who were born in and outside the US, for the first time. During the next decade (1851–1860) another 2,598,214 immigrants arrived in the U.S. Still in that period in 1854, The Know-Nothings, a nativist political party that wanted to increase restrictions on immigration, especially the immigration from Catholic Ireland. The protestant Americans were afraid of growing Catholic immigration because they would be under control of the Pope. After in 1855, Castle Garden is inaugurated as New York's principal point of entry. In the next couple years, 1861 to 1870

Immigration law have the ‘aliens’ pursuing fault dreams of becoming a U.S citizen. The United States began to get big waves of immigrants in the late 1800’s and in the late 1900’s. Immigrants came to the “land of opportunities” to begin a new and better life. The immigration laws began with the Page act of 1875, that was when the United States restricted immigrants from Asia. Next was the Chinese Exclusion act of 1882, the act stated the prohibition of all immigrants of Chinese laborers.

During the 1920s, the United States was a tense era. The influx of immigrants caused fear and bigotry, especially towards the Roman Catholic religion (Holsinger, 1968). The citizens of the State of Oregon labeled immigrants as un-American, claiming that the immigrants would inject unpatriotic practices into the culture. The citizenry professed to protect American principles of the time and intended to pass on their values to the youth through public school education. Their goal was to provide parallel education to all children, thus controlling the content taught. Furthermore, Oregon was under the watchful eye of the powerful Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which enforced radical patriotism.

In 1952, Immigration and Nationality Act started eliminating race as a requirement to immigration or citizenship. Japan's quota was 185 immigrants annually; China's stayed at 105; other Asian countries were given 100 each. Northern and Western Europe's quota was defined at 85% of all immigrants. However there were some restricts on British colonies' immigrants in order to avoid the tide of black West Indians entering under Britain's generous quota.

As time went on and we got further into the 19th century, people's positive thoughts about immigrants became negative and harsh. At first, the Americans thought that immigrants could help with working jobs and filling up the unused lands but soon that all changed. People began to fear their "perfect American society" was being threatened by immigrants customs and beliefs. The fact that immigrants had their own religions, different genes, and new customs was alarming to people who had never seen things like this before. The Americans were so unpleased with these new people in the United States that they created groups and had nativist movements. Some of these movements include the Know-Nothing party, the Immigration Restriction League of

Immigration has always and will always play an important role in America’s history, along with the United States having the most open immigration policy in the world to this date. American history began with flocks of immigrants competing for lands to start a life, bringing over their vast traditions and values. Some brought nothing but determination. It’s disgusting to see our congress and lawmakers make these higher-end laws to keep foreigners out, yet our country is built off immigrants. Since the 19th century, America has been the leading destination unlike no other for immigrants to reside. No other country has such a wide range of races and population like America. Diversity is indeed, what makes this country so unique. America has always

Emigration was directly linked to the situation in the country of origin. Especially from 1820 onwards Malta had formidable problems with redundant population. Peace in the country developed occupancies, which led to unemployment throughout the country. Although the country was afflicted by several diseases like the plague in 1813 and cholera this did little to curb the unstoppable growth in population.