A historical look at who and why has entered the U.S. over

the past 200 years

1700-1776: 450,000 immigrants from Western Europe

Colonial and Revolutionary period – English, Scottish, Germans. • 50% of immigrants before 1776 were

indentured servants• Need for continuous labor, so turned to

Africans circa 1700

No formal restrictions on immigration – encouraged and needed

3 month boat trip – very harsh conditions

From the 1840’s through the Civil War: 10 million immigrants

Reasons: increase in population in Europe, wars/revolutions, commercial farms were pushing small farmers off their land

Need for labor in America, especially with the railroads being built

Irish – huge potato famine. Settled in many of the American slums, worked in factories

Chinese began coming to work on the western railroads and in gold mines

earned 1/3 of a white man’s salary 1840’s – Know-Nothing Party – secret

societies to protect America from foreigners

1880’s though World War I: 15 million Immigrants

Eastern & Southern European – Russians, Jews, Poles, Italians, Greeks

Left for economic reasons and religious persecution

Settled in Urban Ghettos Faced extreme Nativism Method of travel: Steam Ship – most on

the lower decks with no windows, little light

2 Major Problems• Cultural Differences between this group and

previous immigrants Kept wages down - would work for practically

nothing• Concentrated in certain areas together to

keep culture alive Retained their languages and old identities

1914-1950 End of WWI halts mass immigration

to US 1922 Cable Act – if an American

female marries an immigrant, she loses her U.S. citizenship

1950-present At first – Asia when exclusion acts

were lifted Recently, huge increase in

immigrants from Middle East, Mexico, and Central America