It is often said that the United States is a country of immigrants. This is

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1 Policy Brief # 11-2 U.S. Immigration Throughout HistoryAugust 2011 U.S. Immigration Throughout History By Keely MacDonald It is often said that the United States is a country of immigrants. This is for the most part true: only Native Americans have the right to claim they were here first. European settlers and indentured servants, as well as slaves brought from Africa, were the first to immigrate to North America, setting the foundations for what would later become the United States of America. Throughout U.S. history, waves of immigrants from Europe, Asia, and Central America have arrived periodically, contributing to the diversity that comprises our nation. In the late 18th century, J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur described the sundry culture of our nation as a melting pot, writing, [W]hence came all these people? They are a mixture of English, Scotch, Irish, French, Dutch, Germans, and Swedes. What, then, is the American, this new man? He is neither a European nor the descent of a European; hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations. 1 Today, however, that melting pot is cooling and the question of What, then, is the American? is becoming more difficult to answer as recent waves of immigrants tend to assimilate less and less. Zhenchao Qian, a sociology professor at Ohio State University, stated in a 2007 report that recent minority immigrants do not speak English well and tend to live in segregated neighborhoods major factors that discourage [intermarriage] outside racial or ethnic groups. 2 Though the United States has every reason to be proud of Keely MacDonald works in the areas of media, communications, and government affairs. Keely hails from Greensboro, NC. She attends Duke University and is majoring in International Comparative Studies with minors in History and French and Francophone Studies. Keely has studied abroad in Nice, France, and Florence, Italy. Prior to joining Progressives, Keely interned for Senator Hagan of North Carolina. In her free time, Keely works as a part-time screenplay reader for a production company in California. Progressives for Immigration Reform is a 501(c)(3) organization. Our goals are to educate the public on the problems created by U.S. immigration policies and to promote legislation 1 to correct them. To learn more, please visit us at:

2 our diverse nation, immigration is undoubtedly different today than it has been in the past, and it would be astute to examine its effects throughout U.S. history. The first wave of immigrants between 1607 and 1775 consisted primarily of British, German, and Dutch migrants who came to the New World to try their luck in this fresh and burgeoning land. They brought with them African slaves as well as indentured European servants to work their properties. These first immigrants to North America were primarily settlers looking to hit it big economically, first through the possibility of finding gold and other riches, and then through the cultivation of crops such as tobacco. Religious intolerance in Europe drove emigration as well, and groups such as the Quakers of Pennsylvania and the Puritans of New England sprang up in what would eventually become the Thirteen Colonies. Both foreign and native-born workers were necessary for the advancement of American society during the Industrial Revolution, though this would not always be the case. The flow of immigrants persisted at a steady rate throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, and continued on through the American Revolutionary War. In 1790, the U.S. Government passed the Naturalization Act, which denied citizenship to non-whites. European immigrants, however, continued to come to the United States in waves throughout the first half of the 19th century. In fact, mortgage foreclosures and crop failures in Europe served as a catalyst for tens of thousands of dispossessed people to emigrate. In 1820, the U.S. population was approximately 9.6 million people as found by the fourth U.S. census; but in that year alone, about 151,000 new immigrants arrived in America hoping for a better life. The onset of industrialization also drew immigrants to the United States. Two immigrant groups in particular the Irish and the Germans grew rapidly here in the United States toward the middle of the 19th century. In 1846, widespread hunger and poverty ran rampant throughout Ireland with the advent of the Irish Potato Famine. In addition, large groups of German political refugees arrived in the United States beginning in 1848, following failed revolutions in the German states. After an attempt to create a single, unified German state, emigrants fleeing Austrian authorities flooded into the United States in an effort to escape and begin reestablishing their lives. In fact, so many Irish and German immigrants arrived during the late 1840s that a new American political movement known as the Know-Nothing Party materialized. This movement sought to curb immigration by playing on the fear that Roman Catholics who were loyal to the Pope rather than the United States would overwhelm the nation. Though neither this fear nor the party s goals ever came to fruition, the seed of nativism was sewn in the minds of many Americans. The Industrial Revolution ( ) improved many areas of society, but many citizens and immigrants in lower social classes suffered a significant drop with regard to standard of living. Most workers dealt with 12-hour days and earned 20 to 40 percent less than the minimum deemed necessary for a decent life. 3 According to Cornell University professor Vernon Briggs, 2

3 U.S. Immigration Throughout History The supply of immigrant workers of that era may have been highly heterogeneous in their ethnic, racial, and religious characteristics, but the demand for labor was essentially homogeneous in what it required of those who came. 4 Both foreign and native-born workers were necessary for the advancement of American society during the Industrial Revolution, though this would not always be the case. Around the same time, in 1848, the United States saw the end of the Mexican-American War with the Treaty of Guadeloupe-Hidalgo. This treaty made eligible for citizenship some 80,000 Mexican residents residing in what became the southwestern United States. Over half a century later, in 1910, the conclusion of the Mexican Revolution served as an impetus for thousands to emigrate from Mexico and seek employment in the United States. The extension of the United States also paved the way for the California Gold Rush in 1849, which in turn spurred a huge amount of immigration from China. Over three decades later, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882 in an effort to stem immigration from China. The Act lasted until 1943, when it was eventually repealed. By 1910, there were over 13.5 million immigrants living in the United States. A decade later saw the passage of several immigration laws in an attempt to stem the flow of various groups of immigrants trying to escape turmoil in Europe. Immigration legislation such as the Emergency Quota Act and the Immigration Act of 1924 sought to curb immigrants from southern and eastern Europe, namely Jews, Italians, and Slavs. A Border Patrol also was established along the U.S.-Mexican border in 1924 to restrict Chinese emigration from Mexico. With the influx of so many different immigrant groups to the United States, Ellis Island was opened in 1892 to process everyone who wished to become an American. Before Ellis Island, over eight million immigrants arriving in New York had been processed at Castle Garden Immigration Depot in lower Manhattan. Today, over a third of Americans can trace their origins back to immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island. When it opened, Ellis Island processed almost 450,000 immigrants in the first year alone, and nearly 12 million immigrants over the following three decades. 5 Approximately 2 percent of all immigrants who came through the station were denied admission to the United States and had to make the return passage back home. The peak year for immigration through Ellis Island was 1907, when over one million immigrants were processed. 6 When the station closed in 1954, it was meant to symbolize a supposed end to mass migration. When it opened, Ellis Island processed almost 450,000 immigrants in the first year alone, and nearly 12 million immigrants over the following three decades. In 1965, President Johnson signed the Immigration Act, which eliminate[d] race, creed, and nationality as a basis for admission to the U.S. 7 From this point on, immigration levels doubled between 1965 and 1970, and again between 1970 and This Act marked a significant change in the history of U.S. immigration, as it encouraged many non-europeans to enter the nation. 3

4 The 1960s also saw an increase in undocumented Mexican migrants as well because of the termination of the Bracero program. The Bracero guestworker program began during World War II to relieve wartime labor shortages and to legalize and control the flow of Mexican agricultural workers to pick crops in western U.S. states. When the program ended, job-seeking Mexicans who had grown accustomed to working in the United States and who found they no longer had any legal means of entry continued to come illegally. 9 This trend continued through the latter half of the 20th century, and, according to Mark Krikorian, During the 1990s, Hispanics went from 37 percent to 46 percent of the total immigrant population. 10 According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau Brief, million people resided in the United States on April 1, 2010, of which 50.5 million (or 16 percent) were of Hispanic or Latino origin. The Hispanic population increased from 35.3 million in 2000 when this group made up 13 percent of the total population. 11 Whereas immigrant workers were necessary during the U.S. Industrial Revolution, many believe that their current numbers threaten to overwhelm lowskilled native-born workers. There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently residing in the United States as well. Public opinion has consistently varied with regard to immigration, whether it was the Know-Nothing Party of the 19th century or the conservative so-called Tea Party that we see today. For some, at least since the 1880s, immigrants have been assumed to take jobs away from and to lower wages of native workers, to add to the poverty population, and to compete for education, health and other social services. 12 In fact, in recent decades, there has been the general stagnation (in absolute terms) and the sharp decline (in relative terms) of employment in the goods-producing sector of the economy which includes agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and construction. 13 Whereas immigrant workers were necessary during the U.S. Industrial Revolution, many believe that their current numbers threaten to overwhelm low-skilled nativeborn workers. The purpose of immigration has clearly changed from the time that our great nation first came into its own. Education in the United States has become much more widespread, with stress on literacy and, for many, the attainment of high skills that could be used in the workplace. According to experts, At a time when the nation has been trying to reduce the adverse economic impact of low educational attainment among its population, immigration policy is flooding the low-skilled labor market with poorly educated immigrant workers. It is small wonder why the real wages of low-skilled workers have been declining and the income distribution of the nation has been worsening over the past three decades. 14 That is not to say that every foreign-born worker is poorly educated and intends to enter the low-skilled labor market. In fact, job growth from many small businesses and start-ups can frequently be attributed to foreign-born workers. It is clear, though, that the need for low-skill immigrants has been significantly reduced over the past two centuries. According to data from the Center for Immigration Studies: 4

5 U.S. Immigration Throughout History Over nine million immigrants came to the United States in the 1980s, but fewer than 4 percent arrived after it was determined that they were needed in the sense that a U.S. employer asked the Department of Labor to certify that there were no American workers available to fill the vacant job for which an immigrant was being requested. 15 The flood of low-skilled foreign-born workers, then, has done nothing but gratuitously inundate certain sectors of the American labor market, illustrating that the purpose of immigration has indeed changed over the past three decades. How else is immigration currently impacting the United States? Focusing on new information from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Huffington Post released an article that stated, The nation s minority population is steadily rising and now makes up 35 percent of the United States, advancing an unmistakable trend that could make minorities the new American majority by midcentury. 16 What, then, is the American? How do you define a nation that is so culturally diverse, and continues to fluctuate with unprecedented levels of immigration? We have been in the past a nation of immigrants this is undoubtedly true. But are we still a melting pot, or merely multiple cultures living side-by-side? The United States government must decide what it truly means to be an American and must follow up with comprehensive Are we still a melting pot, or merely multiple cultures living side-by-side? immigration reform that will alleviate the current pressures continuing to build nationwide. Perhaps in the future we will be better equipped to define what the American actually is. 5

6 End Notes 1 Crevecoeur, J. Hector St. John. Letters from an American Farmer, Letter III, El Nasser, Haya, Cross-cultural marriage rates falling, USA Today, United States History - The Struggles of Labor, Library of Congress Country Studies. 4 Briggs, Vernon, Mass Immigration and the National Interest, 3rd ed. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 2003, p Ellis Island, nps.gov, National Park Service, 2011, 6 Turn of the Century ( ), Houston History, 2010, 7 Cultural Diversity in America, Then and Now, MPA, The Association of Magazine Media, org/diversity/managing/defining/8479.aspx. 8 Frum, David, How We Got Here: The 70 s: The Decade That Brought You Modern Life--For Better or Worse, New York: Basic Books, pp Espenshade, Thomas J., Unauthorized Immigration to the United States, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 21, 1995, pp Krikorian, Mark, The New Case Against Immigration. New York: Penguin Group, Ennis, Sharon, Merarys Rios-Vargas, and Nora Albert. The Hispanic Population: 2010, U.S. Census Bureau, May 2011, 12 Espenshade, Thomas J., Unauthorized Immigration to the United States, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 21, 1995, p Briggs, Vernon, Mass Immigration and the National Interest, 3rd ed. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., Ibid., Bouvier, Leon, Peaceful Invasions: Immigration and Changing America, Washington, DC: Center for Immigration Studies, p Yen, Hope. U.S. Minority Population Could Be Majority By Mid-Century Census Shows, Huffington Post, 2010, 6

7 U.S. Immigration Throughout History Notes 7

8 Progressives for Immigration Reform is a non-profit organization seeking to educate the public on the unintended consequences of mass migration. PFIR concurs with the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform that it is both a right and a responsibility of a democratic society to manage immigration so that it serves the national interest. It is the position of PFIR that immigration policy should consider the effects of policy on population size, population growth, skill composition of the labor force, the working conditions and wages of both immigrants and native born workers, domestic water and energy supplies, open space and preservation of biodiversity, and the emission of greenhouse gases from the United States. PFIR favors policies toward developing countries to lessen the push factors of poverty and unemployment that drive emigration th Street NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC info@pfirdc.org 8