Between 1820-1900 c. 20 million people arrived to the USA as immigrants.
9 million arrived in the years 1900-10 alone, with a further 6 million the following decade.
The increase of the urban population is linked with immigration, it is estimated that in 1890, 80% of New Yorkers had been born abroad.
Before 1880, the vast majority of immigrant came from north and west Europe: Germans, British, Scandinavians, Irish, French made up over 80% of immigrants in the 1860s and most came to the US with the intention of settling down with their families.
This changed in 1880 however, the majority came from south and east Europe and were predominantly single men who often went back to Europe after a prolonged stay.
The exception to this was Jewish immigration, who faced persecution in Russia and eastern Europe, having no home to go back to.
Why people left their homelands:
Socio-economic changes at home
With European populations rising and a significant growth in urbanisation, traditional communities in eastern Europe and Russia faced disruption to their lifestyles.
Although many left to settle in the urban centres of America, a number found it easier to continue their traditional farming lifestyles in the American West.
Religious, political and racial persecution
Jews faced severe and growing persecution at the end of the 19th Century, particularly in Poland and Russia where a growth of nationalism and pan-Slavism (political union of all Slavs under Russia) saw an increase in physical attacks on Jewish villages and businesses (pogroms), often with the support of authorities.
Other ethnic groups such as Armenians in Turkey also faced persecution, from where there was a dramatic increase in immigrants in the 1900s.
Ethnic groups from multi-ethnic empires such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire felt they could sustain their cultural identity better elsewhere.
There was also a growing intolerance in European capitals of anarchists and socialists, several of whom decided to leave and plan their revolutions from afar.
Economic Problems
The most dramatic example of economic emigration was the Irish, who left in thousands during the potato famine in the 1840s.
Other economic emigration can be traced specifically to moments of economic collapse in Southern Europe:
E.g. an outbreak of cholera and a collapse in the international fruit market in the 1880s in southern Italy, saw a rise in Italian immigration in the 1880s.
Crop failures and a decline in the currant market may also explain a Greek exodus in 1907.
Many of these immigrants were young men who went to the USA with the intention of returning, sending money back to their family in Europe.
For example 1,800,000 Hungarians were recorded entering the USA from 1880-1914 but in 1910 there were only 500,000 still in the USA- evidence that immigrant did return.
Why people chose to settle in the USA
Economic opportunities
The most obvious reason why people settled in America was because of its reputation, known as a ‘land of opportunity’.
The economic expansion of the USA was both a cause and a consequence of mass immigration, demand for unskilled labour was filled by immigrant workers.
What appeared to be pitiable rates in America, seemed like small fortunes from immigrants coming from severe poverty or subsistence agriculture (production of food for only those that produce it, not the market) in Europe and Russia.
Direct recruitment by American agents
A special bureau to encourage immigration was established during the Civil War and many American companies sent agents to recruit cheap labour.
This was known as ‘contract labour’, where workers had to agree to work for a company at a fixed price for a period of time, and was legal until 1885.
Many of those who arrived in America had their passage paid for in advance and there was widespread advertising across Europe.
America’s spirit of toleration
At a time when most Europeans were denied the vote, and when governments in the East were highly authoritarian, the political freedom and liberties offered by the USA were attractive.
Europeans were aware of the Declaration of Independence, stating all men were created equal, as well as the poem on the Statue of Liberty calling forth all immigrants ‘yearning to breathe free.’
This was exaggerated but compared with the political situation in Russia or Turkey, America did seem like a land of liberty.
Influence of relative and friends
Many families followed early pioneers. Cousins in the States would often pay the passage to be joined by their relatives or families once they settled down there.
Developments in transport
The transition from sail to steam allowed many more people to make the journey across the Atlantic.
Railroads also opened up the continent once immigrants arrived there. Many agents looking to recruit workers came from the railroad companies.
The impact of immigration on the USA
The development of distinct ethnic neighbourhoods
Most immigrants arriving to America did not get further than the cities. Most lacked the capital to start up farming and were either attracted by the wages or quickly dragged into a system that saw influential figures, often Italian or Greek, arrange the entire life for arriving immigrants, from housing to jobs and even the way they would vote.
As a result, certain nationalities would be attracted to certain cities where their ethnic population was the highest and where their friends and family lived.
The Irish dominated Boston, Czechs and Poles to Chicago and the Italians took over Brooklyn, New York.
The Economic Impact of Immigration
The opportunities of immigration presented were:
The provision of a constant supply of cheap labour.
Immigrants coming from overseas were desperate for work often coming from a rural background, had little idea of employment law or working rights, and were easily exploited by contractors.
Although a significant amount of urban growth was due to Americans moving from country to town, the largest factor in urban growth was immigration.
In 1910, 1/3 of the population of the 12 largest cities in America were immigrants, and a further 1/3 was composed of the children of immigrants.
The economy grew because of the important supply of labour.
Inevitably this led to so e tensions between immigrants and local-born Americans who either saw immigrants as taking jobs, or depressing wage levels.
There was strong working-class resentment towards the new immigrants.
The Political Impact of Immigration
Immigrants had very little, if any experience of politics in their previous lives and countries.
This meant they tended to vote the same way in which the cities they settled in did.
Because they tended to live in ethnic urban neighbourhoods, they could easily dominate certain political districts, which local politicians exploited by pandering to a certain ethnic group.
City bosses would provided a network of economic and social support in specific ways, and in return gained the votes of grateful immigrants.
Many Americans were concerned this was mindless voting, and that the voters were not carefully considering and casting their votes.
The immigrants tended to be attracted to the Democratic Party, especially since the Republicans became increasingly associated with Prohibition, which had racial overtones (since temperance reformers blamed drink problems on Catholic, German and Irish immigrants.)
The Democratic Party looked to immigrants in northern cities to provide a balance to the native-born Republican voters in the North and East.
The combination of white southerners, western farmers and immigrants was the coalition that had been put together against the Republicans.
Racial Tension and Discrimination
Native-born Americans tended to use immigrants as scapegoats to blame the ills of society.
By making little attempt to integrate, the new immigrants were ostracising themselves in their tight-knit communities and making themselves targets.
Labour violence often erupted from immigrant slums, while the growth of anarchy and socialism among urban workers was blamed on European influences.
Immigration was seen leading to a more corrupt and less homogenous society.
There were some outbreaks of violence in the 1850s with the formation of the ‘Know Nothings’ and in the ‘Red Scare’ of the 1920s there were outbreaks of violence and some discriminatory legislation was passed.
Newspapers record stories of attacks on Greeks in Nebraska, Slavs in Utah and Chinese of the West Coast.
The formation of the KKK in 1915 Georgia was a sign of racist attitudes to come.