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Approximately two to three million immigrants entered the United States during each decade from 1850 to 1880. In the 1880s, the number of immigrants swelled to over five million. Prior to 1880, the majority of immigrants were from the British Isles and western Europe. Many were literate and came from countries with representative governments. Most of them were Protestant, except for the Catholics from Ireland, France, and Germany. Although not all spoke English, many of the cultural customs of these immigrants allowed them to assimilate to life in America relatively easily.
Starting in the late 1870s and continuing through the 1880s, the source of the immigrants pouring onto America’s shores began to change. People from southern and eastern Europe, including Italians, Slovenes, Croats, Slovaks, Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Romanians, Russians, and Greeks, began immigrating to America. After the 1880s, they made up the majority of immigrants entering the country, and from 1900 to 1910, they comprised nearly 70 percent of all immigrants.
In contrast to earlier immigrants, many of these new immigrants were illiterate and poor, had little experience with democratic governments, and included followers of Judaism and Orthodox Christianity. This new wave of immigrants also included large numbers of Catholics. Although many of the immigrants in the late 1800s originated from rural areas of Europe, they preferred to seek industrial work in the cities of America.
Upon arrival, most new immigrants settled in New York, Chicago, and other cities in neighborhoods with their own ethnic groups, which became known as “Little Italy,” “Little Hungary,” and so on. The number of immigrants in these areas soon outnumbered the population of some of the largest cities in their home countries. By 1910, one-third of Americans were foreign born or had one parent who was foreign born. Although these ethnic neighborhoods offered new immigrants a connection with others from their homeland, they also served to segregate the immigrants from mainstream American society.
Within these ethnic communities, the immigrants tried to maintain a life similar to that of the Old World. Among their compatriots they could speak their own language, practice their religion, and follow their own traditions. Many communities had foreign-language newspapers as well as theaters, food stores, restaurants, and social clubs that reflected their cultural and religious heritage. Many Jewish immigrants set up Hebrew schools, and Catholics created Parochial schools. At school, many of the immigrant children received formal instruction in English; others went to work instead of attending school. Often while the first generation immigrants struggled to maintain their culture, the children shed the customs of the Old World to adopt new American traditions.
Poor economic conditions, as well as religious, political, and racial persecution in Europe helped create this new tide of immigrants. Overpopulation in Europe combined with rapid industrialization and imports of fish and grain from America led to the collapse of the peasant economy of southern and eastern Europe. Unemployed and poor, millions of Europe’s rural inhabitants moved to the cities seeking new vocations, while many chose to leave Europe altogether.
Others, namely Jews from the Polish areas of Russia, fled to America in the 1880s to escape violent persecution in their homeland. Unlike many of the other European immigrants at the time, the Jews were accustomed to city life. Many of them made their new home in New York and were able to transfer their skills as tailors and shopkeepers to the New World. However, once they were in America, they faced resentment from the German Jews who had arrived years earlier. Some German Jews took advantage of the destitute circumstances of the new arrivals and hired them as cheap labor in their businesses.
In addition to the hardships faced in Europe, a number of other factors added to the appeal of America that lured many Europeans to make the voyage across the Atlantic. In Europe, people saw America as the land of opportunity, a viewpoint partially created by the letters from friends and family already in America that told of the opportunities that awaited immigrants. Another factor attracting immigrants was that America was free of the compulsory military service required in many European countries. Expanding American industries needing new sources of low-wage labor recruited workers in Europe and at American ports, and railroads advertised in multiple languages to find buyers for their land grants and create traffic on their lines.
The federal government also encouraged immigration under the Contract Labor Law of 1864. Although the law was repealed in 1868, during the time it was in effect the federal government would pay for immigrants’ travel to the U.S. and then recoup the money by garnishing their wages once they arrived. American businesses made similar contract agreements with workers until the Foran Act eliminated the practice in 1885.
Established immigrants often recruited workers from the home countries and arranged for their travel and housing. Most notable is the “padrone” system used by the Italians and Greeks. The “padrone,” or labor agent, contracted with companies to provide workers. Since the new immigrants were unfamiliar with American employment practices, labor agents and other contractors sometimes took advantage of them.
With the launch of the steamship, the passage to America, which had once been quite dangerous, was now safe, fast, and affordable. The price became even lower as the steamship lines competed for passengers.
Of the millions of new immigrants who made the passage either to escape the hardships of Europe or to seize the promise of the New World, most entered America through New York. Other ports that saw many immigrants were Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, Galveston, Mobile, and New Orleans. Those that came through New York before 1890, entered through the state-run Castle Garden reception center at the southern tip of Manhattan. At this time, the Atlantic coast states were responsible for determining the process of entry for immigrants, but the federal government soon took over. Stories of corruption at Castle Garden prompted a Congressional investigation, which led to the facility closing in 1890.
Congress then provided funding to build a new reception facility on an island south of Manhattan and assigned the new federal Bureau of Immigration to oversee the entry process. After Ellis Island opened in 1892, immigrants entering through New York now passed near the Statue of Liberty. The statue, erected in 1886, was a centennial gift from the people of France. On the base of the statue, workers inscribed the words of the poet Emma Lazarus:
“Lady Liberty” soon became a symbol of hope for the immigrants as they began their new life in America.
Copyright 2006 The Regents of the University of California and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education