Patterns of Immigration
Since times in history, the United States has been considered a land of immigrants. In the 17th century, most people from other parts of the world fled their regions to the USA as it was considered the land of economic opportunities. During this time, most countries suffered from job shortages, drought, rising taxes and land shortage due to the increase in population. Others came to the United States to seek safety since some regions were suffering from religious and political persecution; hence the USA offered refuge to most of these people due to its peaceful state. As a result, the USA saw an increase in population, with over 15 million people coming into the country as immigrants between 1840 and 1910. The groups mainly comprised of citizens from Ireland, Germany and England. The Chinese were also in this immigration process, but their entry was later banned. Therefore, immigrants contributed majorly as a primary driver of the USA population growth, especially during the four waves of immigration.
After the American Revolution, the nation entered a state where it wanted to rejuvenate its economic status. This appeared to be a challenge as they had lost most laborers due to slavery abolishment. As a result, the nation utilized the available options by allowing the immigrants into the country to meet the labor demand in factories and farms, which were the major contributors to the economy. Later, in the 1880s, the state entered an era of qualitative immigration where restrictions were imposed to ban certain people, such as Chinese, and those workers who had active contracts with their previous employers (Sequeira, Nunn, & Qian, 390). Later, it changed to quantitative restrictions whereby people were regulated according to the number of people who entered the country annually. During the two situations when restrictions were imposed, Europeans were less affected than other immigrants.
Immigrants started entering U.S territories as early as 1820, which is considered the first wave as low numbers characterized it. By 1840 immigration had entered its second wave whereby those entering the country had risen, accounting for almost 100000 immigrants daily. They were mainly constituted of German Catholics and people from the Irish. Even though there were peaks and falls in the entry, during this time, there was very minimal regulation; hence the numbers were continually increasing (Kotzur, et al., 831). This continued for several years until early 1870, when the United States was hit by hard economic times. This led to the Americans and immigrants fighting for the few available opportunities, leading to the derivation of restrictions to prohibit the entry of more people. After the Chinese were banned from entering, the Europeans and the Americans began competing for the jobs that were reserved for the Chinese, leading to the development of hatred and racial suspicions. This led to a buildup of pressure due to riots making congress draft and implement a Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 (Briggs, 30). Notably, immigration also impacted the religious field primarily since the second wave constituted large numbers of Catholics. The sudden increase in number started to challenge the dominance of protestants in the area leading to criticism against the Catholics.
After the Chinese were banned, immigration shifted, whereby most people started to enter the United States from southern and eastern Europe. This was considered the third wave, which constituted more than 20 million immigrants when the USA had 75million residents. Most of those who entered the country arrived through New York Ellis Island, where most were lucky to get employment in factories in the midwestern and northeastern cities. As a result, the port to this island was referred to as the “Golden Door” as it provided opportunities to most new arrivals. This wave continued until World War I (WWI) erupted. Due to many foreigners, immigrants were in most areas across the USA, leading to intermarriages making the native-foreigners born populations increase significantly (Sequeira, Nunn, & Qian, 385). Therefore, at this time, it was hard to regulate immigration as a foreigner in the United States shaped the country’s demography as they constituted for the high number of employees as most were taking the gaps that the enslaved people had earlier filled.
Later, after the eruption of WWII, the process was characterized by an immigration pause whereby foreigners were not sure of their livelihood in the new destination leading to a total reduction of immigrants. The growing economy suffered from a labor shortage as some people were lost during the war. In contrast, others left the country for their motherlands leading to a decreased revenue across the United States. During this time, the government had to draft measures to retain the population as they played a crucial role in its growth (Briggs, 25). As a result, they offered foreigners citizenship, whereby almost three thousand foreigners became legal citizens daily.
Notably, the various waves in immigration played a role in shaping the United States in that they stimulated growth in the economy. Low skilled immigrants supplied labor for industries and farms, while high skilled foreigners played a role in innovation that stimulated the growth of industries and technology (Sequeira, Nunn, & Qian, 405). Additionally, they led to the industrial revolution as they offered cheaper labor than the natives, thereby increasing the profits margins. Diversity of skills offered new problem-solving skills leading to better production and introduction of technology in the manufacturing industry. The integration between the natives and the immigrants led to a diversity of culture, leading to the adoption of new, improved lifestyles (Briggs, 36). Due to the high numbers of immigrants, the American culture was affected, forcing the natives to adopt new practices that favored their well-being.
Conclusion
In conclusion, even though most immigrants settled near the ports as they were their entry point, several moved into the in lands. Most of the scarcely populated cities tended to attract more foreigners as most moved with the intentions of employment or farming. This led to the establishment of settlements from which most immigrants operated. Even though most immigrants suffered from verbal and physical abuse due to discriminative employers and natives, their impact on the country was significant. The immigration patterns helped the country regain its lost economy as the country had been affected by slavery abolishment, leading to the loss of cheap labor in the northern region. Hence, immigration has played an essential role in the growth and development of the United States, thereby the need for protection of the diverse culture as it is a significant contributor to economic productivity.
Works Cited
Briggs, Jo. “The American Replica: The Politics and Status of Artists’ Autograph Replicas in the Gilded Age.” Victorian Artists’ Autograph Replicas. Routledge, 2020. 23-37.
Kotzur, Patrick F., Linda R. Tropp, and Ulrich Wagner. “Welcoming the unwelcome: How contact shapes contexts of reception for new immigrants in Germany and the United States.” Journal of Social Issues 74.4 (2018): 812-832.
Sequeira, Sandra, Nathan Nunn, and Nancy Qian. “Immigrants and the Making of America.” The Review of Economic Studies 87.1 (2020): 382-419.