| Major immigration movements to the United States Source: U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and located in the World Book Encyclopedia under the letter "I" and the topic "immigration." The information below is copied out of the World Book Encyclopedia under the "I" book and the pages on immigration. Who When Number Why Irish 1840s-1850s About 1.5 Million Potato crop failure and famine Germans 1840s-1880s About 4 Million Economic depression, unemployment and political instability Danes, 1870s-1900s About 1.5 Million Poverty and shortage of farmland Norwegians, and Swedes Poles 1880s-1920s About 1 Million Poverty, political repression, and a cholera epidemic Jews from 1880s-1920s About 2.5 Million Religious persecution Eastern Europe Austrians, 1880s-1920s About 4 Million Poverty and overpopulation Czechs, Hungarians, and Slovaks Italians 1880s-1920s About 4.5 Million Poverty and overpopulation Mexicans 1910-1920s About 700,000 Mexican Revolution in 1920; low wages and unemployment |
| Immigration Yesterday |
| Most immigrants who came to the East Coast of the United States were from Europe. People traveled by boat and most often settled in the eastern part of the United States. Many ethnic and religious groups came to the United States in waves. This meant that large groups of people came for many of the same reasons at the same time. Let's look at the chart below and examine the reasons WHY people came to the United States from Europe. Think to yourself whether these are related to PUSH factors or reasons that "pushed" people from their homelands such as natural disasters or famines, or whether they are PULL factors which are reasons that attract people to come due to family, better education and jobs, land, and other opportunities. |
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