Immigration Before 1877

Introduction 

The first century of U.S independence saw great population migrating from Ireland and Germany as the federal government put in place a more coherent national policy on immigration. The period between the 1820s and 1840s saw close to 90 percent of those migrating into the United States come from Germany, Ireland or England with the Irish people being the largest group of immigrants 1 . This essay will focus on the immigration of the Irish and Germans into the United States before 1877 as well as the Chinese immigration and the Gold Rush of 1849. 

Irish Immigration 

In the 1820s close to 60,000 of Irish nationals migrated into the United States. In the 1830s the number of the immigrants into the United States grew to almost 235,000, and in the 1840s the number of the Irish immigrants had already risen to nearly 845, 000 2 . The main reason for the huge migration pattern of the Irish nationals into the United States was due to the potato famine in Ireland which was popularly known as the Great Irish Famine. Most of the Irish emigration can be classified into three major periods. The period of 1820 to 1844, the famine period from 1845 to 1855 and the post-famine period from 1856 to 1930 3 . Most of the Irish immigrants left their country for financial reasons. The Irish were farmers who largely depended on the potatoes and other crops which could do well in the Irish soil. When famine broke out, the Irish were left struggling with lack of food which made life unbearable in their country 4 . 

Apart from famine, most of the Irish immigrants left their country in response to religious persecutions, British taxes, and loss of land. They always believed that life in America was much better than that in their country. Most of the Irish immigrants did not have enough capital to buy business or farm in America, and therefore most of them settled in the port cities such as Philadelphia and New York. The Irish who had traveled to the West using the Oregon train had stayed in the United States for a period long enough to save money to finance the journey. A group of Irish immigrants settled in the region between Willamette Rivers and Long Tom. The immigrants from the East and California got attracted by the lands of the Marion County which could do well with farming as well as the Catholic Church of St. Paul 5 . 

Some Irish immigrants traveled to the lake counties to work on cattle ranches or as shepherds. The Irish laborers traveled to Portland to work on the docks, lay railway tracks, dig sewers and build roads. The construction of Erie Canal of the New York City, for example, drew laborers from the Irish immigrants. The project relied heavily on the Irish labor that had helped in building transport infrastructure in America 6 . The gradual commercial success of Erie Canal ignited the constructions of more canals in other regions in the country and thus increasing the need for more immigrant labor. 

By the middle of the 19th century, the availability of land in the Northern region of America had attracted most of the immigrants to settle in the regions. Besides, there was the huge economic development which offered great opportunities for the new emigrants. Industrialization created new opportunities for mills and manual laborers in the many industries in the cities 7 . The building and expansion of railroads attracted immigrant labor. The United States had only 23 miles of railroad track by 1830. Only ten years later, the figure had increased to 2818 miles. In 1850, the figure had risen to 9021 miles and 30626 miles by 1960 8 . 

The Irish immigrants had played a significant role in the building of the railroad tracks. The arrival of many Irish nationals increased the number of Catholics in the United States by double. The prejudice of anti-Catholic was common at this period as many American held stereotypes of Catholics as people who blindly followed the Vatican rules and as those who had much superstition. The American nationals doubted the loyalty of the Irish Catholic immigrants to America, fearing that if war erupted, the Catholic immigrants would be loyal to their pope and not to the United States. Catholicism was largely perceived as a threat to democracy as many American feared that it would suppress the strength of Protestantism in America 9 . 

Despite the many challenges faced by the Irish immigrants, they resiliently and effectively assimilated into the American society and culture. They lived in urban and rural areas, with some settling in the Western frontiers and working as farmers and Industrial laborers. They established their presence in cities like Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. With time, the Irish immigrants established powerful political machines in the major metropolitan regions, the most famous being the Tammany Hall in the city of New York 10 . 

This administrative machinery helped the immigrants to assimilate into the American culture by offering them job opportunities as well as training them on how to get absorbed into the culture. Occasionally, the immigrants were given cash handouts in exchange for votes during the election period. William Tweed, for instance, was an Irish immigrant who was among the political bosses of the Tammany Hall 11 . For a long period, he dominated the New York City politics from the 1850s to 1871 when he was arrested because of fraud, corruption and embezzlement charges. Although Tweed was guilty of these charges, he together with other political figures of Tammany hall helped the Irish immigrants to assimilate into the American society. By 1870s, the Irish immigrants had become one of the most prosperous, successful and highly educated immigrant groups in the United States 12 . 

German Immigration 

The period between the 1820s and 1840s saw the Germans migrate into the United States in large numbers. The Germans were the second immigrant group after the Irish. Most of the German immigrants left their country to the United States to seek for political, religious and economic freedom which could hardly be found in their country 13 . The German citizens were forced to live with unemployment and land seizure; the German traders were forced to compete from the British goods. 

In 1848, many political revolutions erupted in German states of Europe. Because of the many political and economic uncertainties, it became easy to leave German to the United States since the U.S had eased the emigration restrictions. As sailing ships got replaced by the steamships, the journey to the United States became more tolerable and easy. As a result, nearly five million Germans migrated into the United States in the 19th century. At the same time, the Germans were fleeing persecutions. Antisemitic violence had erupted in Germany which made thousands of German Jews to leave the country. The German Jews at this time were proud of the German cultures and often spoke German instead of Yiddish or Hebrew. They harmoniously lived together with the Lutherans and Catholics in the German communities. 

Even though the Germans settled in almost every state, the German belt stretches from Oregon to Pennsylvania along the Midwest and the North 14 . The Germans who settled around these regions were farmers who used innovative techniques to do farming such as soil conservation and crop rotation. Other German immigrants settled in the metropolitan regions establishing industrial businesses, pursuing education and getting into the ranks of the upper and middle classes 15 . 

Based on transportation lines, timing and information flow, Midwest became the focal point where most of the German immigrants settled. Later, the German immigrants moved into other territories which were open to settlement such as Kansas. Most of the German immigrants had little funds or followed members of their families as they sought to establish rural settlement or move to the major cities such as Chicago, Cincinnati and Saint Louis 16 . Unlike the Irish immigrants, the German immigrants had funds which helped them in their movements as they migrated from one place to another. The ethnic neighborhoods soon became the cultural and socio-economic centers for the immigrants. Cohesion with the other groups gradually developed with time as secondary settlers joined them and they started looking at themselves as the initial pioneers. 

Chinese Immigration and California Gold Rush of 1849 

In 1848 January 24, gold was discovered at Sutter's mill in California. By 1849, people from different part of the world flocked California to look for gold. Chinese empire just like any other nation in the world was represented in the gold rush in California. Most of the Chinese immigrants were unskilled laborers who were looking for better life for themselves and their families 17 . The Chinese had unique characteristics which made them different from the other people in that area. They lived in groups, they were not Christians, and they hardly spoke English. Moreover, they had darker skin compared to the rest and had unique eating habits and clothing different from the other people 18 . They were peaceful, unobtrusive frugal and extremely hardworking people. 

A large number of the Chinese immigrants mined gold only in the areas which were abandoned by the impatient gold miners. Even so, some Chinese immigrants preferred jobs to mining gold. Also, they were willing to go for the low paying jobs and manifested hardworking attitudes even with the low wages. While some of the Chinese immigrants became laborers for the gold miners, others chose to open up their service businesses such as hotels, stores, and laundries. When the Chinese immigrants got paid either from the wages or gold mining, they would send their earnings back home and immensely improved the lives of their families. 

At first, when there was still a lot of gold in California, Chinese immigrants were well treated by other groups in the region. Most of the other groups and the American nationals were grateful to the Chinese who were hardworking and willing to take low wages 19 . Chinese workers ideally charged only twenty-six dollars in a month while the white workers charged as much as thirty dollars per month 20 . Chinese immigrants pleased many wealthy business people who were willing to give them jobs. Additionally, the gold miners were grateful for the services that the Chinese immigrants had put in places such as hotels, restaurants, and laundering. They interacted a lot with the Chinese immigrants when they ate at their restaurants and when they slept at their hotels. Many of the white Americans even believed that dark skin of the Chinese immigrants added excitement in their country. 

Years later after gold rush had begun; Chinese immigrants started to be treatedunpleasantly. One of the reasons for the bad treatment was that gold mines had started to get exhausted 21 . The new gold miners could not find gold and get rich as quick as they had expected. As a result, they became frustrated and angry. The difficult economic period made the previously perceived dirty jobs and abandoned mines which had been reserved for Chinese immigrants to be desirable. As a result, the Chinese immigrants were suddenly seen as competition and were accused of driving low wages and stealing jobs. The peculiar Chinese lifestyle attracted more hostility as the whites began to look at them as inferior and exotic.Chinese immigrants were violently treated even by the government. Anti-Chinese attacks and riots became common. Additionally, Chinese miners have forcefully driven away from the abandoned mines where they initially worked. In 1852, the Foreign Miners Tax was passed which required that the Chinese miners pay three dollars per month 22 . The harsh treatment of the Chinese immigrants saw some of them go back to their country. 

Conclusion 

Immigrants make many sacrifices for their families. Most of them work for long hours to get more money at the expense of spending more time with their families. Some of them even get sick because they spend all their time working,but most of them do not choose to quit even with the challenges they face. Additionally, most of the immigrants face hostilities and discrimination by the hosts. Some of them face discrimination while others put up with bad working conditions. For immigrants, it is not easy to adopt the culture and the way that people behave. 

Bibliography 

Berthoff, Rowland T. "Southern Attitudes Toward Immigration, 1865-1914."  The Journal of Southern History  17.3 (1951): 328-360. 

Chan, Sucheng. "A people of exceptional character: Ethnic diversity, nativism, and racism in the California gold rush."  California History  79.2 (2000): 44-85. 

Gleeson, David T.  The Irish in the South, 1815-1877 . Univ of North Carolina Press, 2001. 

Greene, Evarts Boutell, and Virginia Draper Harrington.  American population before the federal census of 1790 . Genealogical Publishing Com, 1993. 

Hirota, Hidetaka. "The moment of transition: state officials, the federal government, and the formation of American immigration policy."  The Journal of American History  99.4 (2013): 1092-1108. 

Hollifield, James F. "The emerging migration state."  International migration review  38.3 (2004): 885-912. 

Kanazawa, Mark. "Immigration, Exclusion, and Taxation: Anti-Chinese Legislation in Gold Rush California."  The Journal of Economic History  65.3 (2005): 779-805. 

Rohe, Randall E. "After the Gold Rush: Chinese Mining in the Far West, 1850-1890."  Montana: The Magazine of Western History  (1982): 2-19. 

Williamson, Jeffrey G. "Real wages, inequality and globalization in Latin America before 1940."  Revista de HistoriaEconomica-Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History  17.S1 (1999): 101-142. 

1 Hollifield, James F. "The emerging migration state."  International migration review  38.3 (2004): 885-912. 

2 Hollifield, James F. "The emerging migration state."  Ibid . 

3 Gleeson, David T.  The Irish in the South, 1815-1877 . Univ of North Carolina Press, 2001. 

4 Gleeson, David T.  The Irish in the South, 1815-1877 . Univ of North Carolina Press, 2001. 

5 Williamson, Jeffrey G. "Real wages, inequality and globalization in Latin America before 1940."  Revista de HistoriaEconomica-Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History  17.S1 (1999): 101-142. 

6 Hirota, Hidetaka. "The moment of transition: state officials, the federal government, and the formation of American immigration policy."  The Journal of American History  99.4 (2013): 1092-1108. 

7 Hirota, Hidetaka. "The moment of transition: state officials, the federal government, and the formation of American immigration policy."  The Journal of American History  99.4 (2013): 1092-1108. 

8 Hirota, Hidetaka. "The moment of transition: state officials, the federal government, and the formation of American immigration policy."  Ibid . 

9 Greene, Evarts Boutell, and Virginia Draper Harrington.  American population before the federal census of 1790 . Genealogical Publishing Com, 1993. 

10 Greene, Evarts Boutell, and Virginia Draper Harrington.  American population before the federal census of 1790 . Genealogical Publishing Com, 1993. 

11 Berthoff, Rowland T. "Southern Attitudes Toward Immigration, 1865-1914."  The Journal of Southern History  17.3 (1951): 328-360. 

12 Berthoff, Rowland T. "Southern Attitudes Toward Immigration, 1865-1914."  Ibid . 

13 Berthoff, Rowland T. "Southern Attitudes Toward Immigration, 1865-1914."  Ibid . 

14 Hollifield, James F. "The emerging migration state."  International migration review  38.3 (2004): 885-912. 

15 Williamson, Jeffrey G. "Real wages, inequality and globalization in Latin America before 1940."  Revista de HistoriaEconomica-Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History  17.S1 (1999): 101-142. 

16 Hollifield, James F. "The emerging migration state."  International migration review  38.3 (2004): 885-912. 

17 Kanazawa, Mark. "Immigration, Exclusion, and Taxation: Anti-Chinese Legislation in Gold Rush California."  The Journal of Economic History  65.3 (2005): 779-805. 

18 Rohe, Randall E. "After the Gold Rush: Chinese Mining in the Far West, 1850-1890."  Montana: The Magazine of Western History  (1982): 2-19. 

19 Chan, Sucheng. "A people of exceptional character: Ethnic diversity, nativism, and racism in the California gold rush."  California History  79.2 (2000): 44-85. 

20 Chan, Sucheng. "A people of exceptional character: Ethnic diversity, nativism, and racism in the California gold rush."  Ibid . 

21 Rohe, Randall E. "After the Gold Rush: Chinese Mining in the Far West, 1850-1890."  Montana: The Magazine of Western History  (1982): 2-19. 

22 Kanazawa, Mark. "Immigration, Exclusion, and Taxation: Anti-Chinese Legislation in Gold Rush California."  The Journal of Economic History  65.3 (2005): 779-805.