Old Immigrant Wave
Irish Immigrants
The Old Immigrant Wave happened around 1815-1865. The majority of these immigrants were from Northern and Western Europe. The influx of immigrants caused many native born Americans to become anti-immigrant. Many Americans did not appreciate Irish Catholics immigrating and often the Irish faced discrimination because of their faith.
Irish
Irish
- Many of the immigrants came from Ireland because Ireland experienced a major famine in the 1800s. About one-third of immigrants during this time came from Ireland (4.5 million Irish migrated to the U.S. between 1820 and 1930). The Irish immigrants for the most part settled near their point of arrival in cities along the East Coast.
- In the 1800s there were about 5 million German immigrants that came to the United States. Many of these German immigrants moved to the modern day Midwest to buy farms. These immigrants also liked to settle in cities like Milwaukee, St. Louis, and Cincinnati.
- Many Asian immigrants settled in California because of the California gold rush. About 25, 000 Chinese had immigrated by the early 1850s and settled in California.
New Immigrant Wave
Italian Immigrant Family
The New Immigrant Wave took place around 1880-1920. Most of the immigrants came from Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe. There were around 600, 000 Italian immigrants and by 1920 there were around 4 million Italian immigrants. Many Jews also came to America to escape religious persecution and by 1920 over 2 million Jews had immigrated. The immigrants in this wave were less skilled and illiterate, which caused many Americans (especially the Anglo-Saxon Protestant population) to join the anti-immigrant group. The Americans feared that these new immigrants would take jobs away from native born Americans because they would work for less money.
European Map
Old Immigrant Wave
New Immigrant Wave
- Dark blue area is Northern Europe
- Light blue area is Western Europe
New Immigrant Wave
- Lime Green is Southern Europe
- Dark Pink is Eastern Europe