Reflection On Italian American Immigration

Between the years 1861 and 1941 almost 30 million people immigrated from Europe to the United States. Many left for a new life, some left because the crops were dying and they were starving, some came for a job, and lastly people left because of religious persecution. In the 1800s, two of the main contributions of the immigrants in the U. S. were the larger population and different cultures.

It has been well documented that migration has played a significant role in the development of the United States. African Americans participated in migration just as much as whites did and have been migrating all throughout the United States since the first African slave ship made its way to Jamestown in 1619. Florette Henri’s Black Migration: Movement North, 1900-1920 (1975) focuses on the beginning of the large-scale relocation of black people from the South to the North and West.

In the world there are many populous nations, originally they were not so populated. Such is the case of the United States of America. During the first half of the century, the US population grew rapidly for many causes. The main cause was immigration from different groups of people that came to America for many push and pull factors. Another cause of the increase was that less people were dying and were pro rating more. Another factor was manifest destiny which is the “belief or doctrine, held in the 19th century, that it was the destiny of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of North America and to extend and enhance its political, social, and economic influences.” (Dictionary)

The United States experienced major waves of Immigrants during the War time and the 1800’s and early 1900’s. 25,000 Asian Immigrants went to California for a gold rush and migrated there by the 1850’s. A lot of Immigration had to do with slaves and such. During the 1890’s Central, and Eastern Europe came to America, so did the Italians and Jews. The start of Immigration was different from today’s time. Back then people who migrated to the United States was easy.

The United States has had two main eras in immigration and these two eras drew migrants from different regions. Select the correct eras and regions.

The history of Immigration to The United States of America started with the movement of people to The U.S. It first started with European settlements from around 1600. Many Immigrants came searching for religious freedom and others came for greater economic opportunities. According to, www.Americanimmigrationcouncil.org, ‘’ The immigration and naturalization act (INA), the body of law governing current immigration policy, provides for an annual worldwide limit of 675,000 permanent immigrants, with certain exceptions for close family members.’’

Between 1900 and 1915, about fifteen million immigrants crossed over to the United States. That is about the same number of immigrants who had came to the US

Many Italians made the United States their home, but getting to the Land of the Free was not easy for them. Many things made the Italians move from their country, and many things brought them to the United States. They faced many hardships while in the country. They all managed to find work in different areas, and in different time periods. They also left important legacies.

In the years 1910-1970 our country saw one of the largest population shifts in history. More than 6 million African Americans trying to escape segregation laws and poor economic opportunities fled the South in hopes of finding a better way of life in the North, Midwest, and West. This would later been called The Great Migration.

Starting around 1890, some 25 million immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe poured into the United States. These immigrants are known as the “new immigrants,” which was the third and largest immigration wave from Europe. Unlike the old, the new immigrants were mostly Jewish and Catholic, and very few understood English or even had experience in the working city life. One specific group of the new immigrants, were the Italian immigrants. There was approximately five million Italians immigrants that came to America between 1890 and 1920, which made the Italians the largest ethnic group of the “new immigrants” to immigrate.

Between 1860-1900 almost 14 million people came to America.Another 14.5 million came between 1900 and 1915.Even more significant than the increased in numbers was the changing character of immigration during these years.

        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

Fear is a great motivator in man.  In the 1920s, immigrants were coming over to the United States in mass quantities.  Most of these immigrants were from Southern or Eastern Europe, parts of Asia and Mexico.  Because these groups differed in culture, race, and religion from the majority of White Americans, as the immigrant population increased, so did hostility and displeasure towards them.  Italians made up 11.8%, or 550,460 immigrants between the years of 1920 and 1930 (Historical Statistics, 456).  These people received an extraordinary amount of dislike as they differed from white America in so many ways. When people began immigrating to America at the rate of five thousand

Little migration was happening, but four decades later immigration increased rapidly. Many from Britain, Ireland, and Germany moved to America

The Great Migration arose between 1910 and 1970. The Great Migration, or the rearrangement of more than 6 million African Americans from the rustic