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Running Head: IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION 2

Immigration and Emigration in the early US

Giselle Blanco

HIS1101

South University

06/17/2015

Immigration and Emigration in the Early US

1. Introduction

This paper focuses on Immigration and Emigration as a major theme in the early United States. The country started having immigration and emigration during the colonial period. The theme occurred in the 19th century from the year 1880s to the year 1920s. People migrated into the country for various reasons. Among the reasons include searching for economic opportunities and religious freedom. The other reason entails slavery that forced people to leave their home countries against their wishes. People also emigrated for the similar reasons. Since the year 1820, the number of immigrants and emigrants had been increasing throughout the early US history. This paper focuses on how the theme occurs throughout the early US history.

2. Immigration and emigration in the colonial era

a. Earliest immigrants and emigrants

i. Colonialists

The colonial era was among the earliest era in the United States. Since this period, the country has been accommodating immigrants. Its original inhabitants who were the first immigrants were Europeans who used the route between Asia and North America. By 1500s, the immigrants had established settlements in the country. In the year 1607, the English established permanent settlements in some part of the US such as Jamestown in Virginia. During this period, some of the immigrants were pilgrims who migrated in the US in order to practice their religions freely. Most of them were persecuted in Europe because of their religion. Most of the European colonialist who migrated into the country came to improve their financial status (Rockaway, 2008).

ii. Slaves

Another group of immigrants who came to the country during the colonial periods were slaves. They emigrated against their will from different parts of Africa that were colonized. Among the first slaves were about 20 Africa, who were forced to stay in Jamestown Virginia in the year 1619. BY the year 1680, the number of African slaves had increased to 7,000. They were settled in the American colonies. In 1790, slave immigrants had increased to about 700,000 which led to the implementation of laws that prohibited the importation of slaves. During the Civil War, there was the emancipation of about 4 million slaves. However, instead of going back to Africa, they established settlements in the country (Barkan, 2013).

3. Immigration and Emigration in the Mid19th Century

a. Irish immigrants

Another large group of immigrants came to the US from the year 1815 to the year 1865. Most of the immigrants during this period were from the Northern and Western parts of Europe. These were Irish immigrant who emigrated from their home land because of famine. Most of them settled in the eastern coastal region and the suburbs. From the year 1820 to 1930, the number of Irish immigrants had increased to about 4.5 million in the country (Andrea & Overfield, 2012).

b. German Immigrants

During this mid-19th century, a large number of Germans moved to the US. About 5 million of them immigrated and settled in cities such as Cincinnati and Milwaukee. Most of them moved into the US in order to buy agricultural farms. The large number of immigrants during this period led to competition for jobs and other economic opportunities between natives and immigrants. This led to many kinds of discrimination in the country (Burgan & Asher, 2005).

4. Immigration and emigration during the Industrialization and Urbanization ear (1880-1920).

Between 1880 and 1920, the country was experiencing industrialization. During this period, many industries were formed in the country making people move to urban areas in such of jobs. Many people also immigrated into the country to look for jobs. During this period alone, about 20 million people immigrated into the country. Most of the immigrants at that time were from the Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe. During this periods, about 600.000 immigrants from Italy move to the US. By the year 1920, about 4 million of them had settled in the US. Jews who emigrated from the eastern parts of Europe move to the US for religious purposes. Their number had increased to 2 million by the year 1920. 1907 was the period when the country received the largest number of immigrants at once. About 1.3 million people moved to the country after passing some tests. After the World War II, more immigrants came to the US as refugees. Until today, the country still receives immigrants especially from Asia and Latin America (Hoerder, 2003).

5. Conclusion

Immigration and emigration were among the themes that occurred in the US throughout its early history. Since the earliest times such as the colonial period, the number of immigrants had been increasing despite the implementation of laws that restricted immigration. Among the reasons that led to immigration and emigration include searching of economic opportunities. Others such as the Jews also emigrated from their home countries in order to escape persecution because of their religion. Others especially those from African moved to the US because they were sold as slaves.

References

Andrea, A. J., & Overfield, J. H. (2012). The human record: Sources of global history. Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Barkan, E. R. (2013). Immigrants in American history: Arrival, adaptation, and integration. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.

Burgan, M., & Asher, R. (2005). Italian immigrants. New York: Facts On File.

Hoerder, D. (2003). American labor and immigration history, 1877-1920s: Recent European research. Urbana: University of Illinois P.

Rockaway, R. A. (2008). Words of the uprooted: Jewish immigrants in early twentieth-century America. Ithaca, NY.: Cornell University Press.