American History

Immigration in the US has been going on for centuries. The study follows the immigration patterns into the United States between 1890-1921. It specifically follows the immigration of the Irish, Jews and the Italians. It cites the reasons for such migration and ends with an overview of the effects that these migrations had on the US economy at the time.          

Immigration refers to the movement and the subsequent settlement of people into a country in which they are not natives . The question of immigration into the United States dates back to the early explorers such as Christopher Columbus. Over the years, millions of people have moved into the United States, settled and become assimilated into the American culture. As Pola, Rebisz, and Kropf (1995) note, the reasons for immigration are vast. While some immigrants were driven by economic reasons, others came to seek refuge away from their otherwise unstable native lands.

While modern day immigration is seen by many to be due to the persistent notion that America is the proverbial promised land, immigration in earlier periods was inspired by totally different reasons. Immigration into the US was an issue then as it is today. Garis (1927) points out that in the 19th century the annual immigration exceeded a million people (p. 2). Immigration between 1890-1921 was largely as a result of the industrial revolution that was taking place at the time. The growth in the industry attracted many newcomers because of the job opportunities.

Immigrants streamed into the US due to the many job opportunities occasioned by the industrial revolution. Pola et al (1995) state that most of these immigrants were mainly drawn from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Great Britain and Ireland. They worked in factories, usually for low wages, but this did not seem to bother them as the conditions in the United States were probably better than the conditions they were fleeing from in their native countries. The reasons that caused Italian women at the time to migrate to the US can be inferred from the words of Clementina Todesco (as cited in Kasaba, 1996). Clementina, who later moved to the US nostalgically, says that

It was really miserable in Italy. But in America, when you worked, you earned money and could eat and drink what you wanted. And there was freedom, no war, no soldiers. So as I said, I was sort of a rebel. I hated ugly and brutal things. I hate injustice and prejudice (p. 63).

Clementina, through her words paints a picture of what it was like to live in Italy at the time. So clear is her conviction that she says that at the time she was willing to marry the first man who promised to take her to the United States. This tells of a need to escape the harsh conditions in Italy. The United States provided an escape route for her and many like herself at the time. Garis (1927) points out that at the time emigration was the only immediate relief (p. 211) to the poverty conditions in Italy and the associated problem of rapid population increase.

The period between 1890 and 1921 also saw the immigration of Jewish people into the Unites States. Garis (1927) points out that, a majority of these Jews came from Russia and adjoining territories (p. 215). He states that most of these Jews migrated to the US due to persecution that they encountered in Russia. Garis (1927) notes that, the Jews, being thus utilized like sponges to draw from the subjects illicit taxes, became the object of persecution when the people gained power over their sovereigns (p. 215). The Jews were therefore viewed as the enemies of the people and a lot of spite was directed their way. Most Jews at the time opted to flee to Jew friendly states to protect their lives. The United States therefore served to offer asylum to these Jews during the period.

The Irish, much like other races of the world, immigrated to the United States to escape hostile conditions in their native lands. The Irish people, who were predominantly farmers, were prompted to move out of their land due to poverty levels. They felt that the United States offered better fortunes for them than home.

The immigration to the United States at the time was largely brought about by the open door policy that the country maintained. There was not enough legislation to control or regulate the movement of people into the country. The uncontrolled immigration at the time caused the population to swell. Garis (2007) indeed affirms that the increase in the US population, at the time, was more attributable to the entry of immigrants as opposed to the natural increase of those already living in the country. The immigration had far reaching implications on the economy, the culture and demographic dimensions of the United States.

The settlement of immigrants into the United States has had a profound effect on the economy. For starters, Pola et al (1995) assert that Just as the Industrial Revolution had an impact on immigration, immigration had a great effect on the growth of Industry. As more and more immigrants came to the United States during the Industrial revolution, more and more factories were built. This is because the immigrants provided enough labor to go around and therefore more and more factories came up during this time. This meant that the United States economy performed considerably well than it otherwise would have in the absence of the immigrants.

The US economy is reputed to have grown greatly thanks to the immigrants. Pola et al (1995) affirm this notion by stating that the immigrants made the United States economy stronger too. They add that more jobs were created at the time than the immigrants could fill up. Croates (n. d.) notes that these immigrants into the United States were less the architects of a new and uneven order than the foot soldiers of its development (6-2). The immigrants provided cheap labor, something that the country was seriously in need of at the time.

Immigration in this early period was largely viewed as being beneficial to the United States. However, there were still some few dissenting voices who felt a little insecure with the rising numbers of the immigrants. According to Pola et al. (1995), they were convinced that the new immigrants were taking their jobs away. The immigrants were also deemed to be developing their native lands by sending money back home. This, they claimed, was money that was obtained from the US economy.  The result of these insecurities was resentment directed towards the new immigrants.  Their fears were however unfounded since the net effect of the immigrants was largely positive.

Despite the fact that the immigrants are credited to having caused a lot of economic development to occur at the time, it should not be forgotten that they were largely responsible for the huge increases in population. Croates (n. d.) observes that On population growth we know several significant things. One is that immigration has long been the primary cause of US population growth (p 6-4). Such huge increases in population were bound to have had a negative economic impact on the US. This is because the period saw an influx of immigrants that was hitherto not expected or even planned for. This most likely means that the economy was put under pressure to support and provide essential services to an ever expanding population. This could be the reason that the US government sought to regulate entry of immigrants in the country through the passage of legislations such as the quota legislation.