New Vs Old Immigration
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During the 19th centrury, immigration to the United States increased profoundly. The two times of this immigration can be separted into the “old” and “new”. These movements differed not only in the people that were immigrating but for different political, social, and economic reasons as well.
The early 1800s saw the earliest wave of immigration: “Old Immigration”. These settlers generally came from western and northern Europe, mainly England and English territiories. Other settlers were slaves that were immigrating to work on plantations in the south. Although these new settlers were all from around the same area, their reasons for coming to this new country differed. The greatest motivator though, was for the seeking of new land. Most people in Europe felt too much control of the land by the church and were seeking freedom in the new found land. Others were seeking religious freedom. Pilgrims and Quakers were the dominate groups that came over to separate from the Church, but many other groups of people came seeking this freedom as well. Lastly people of Europe felt too much control of the government and left their homeland for freedom of their government and for a voice in a new one. Seemingly the main trend of the “old immigration” is the freedom that America had to offer.
Not long after the time of old immigration came the next big wave or immigrants. This time is known as “New Immigration” and differs in many ways from that of the early 1800s. This movement of settlers saw mainly people from southern and eastern Europe; Italy, Russia, Greece, and Poland. It also included people from China and Japan. Unlike the freedom people were seeking earlier in the century, these new immigrants were mainly seeking better economic opportunies. With the end of the Civil War, the United States began to see a substantial increase in industrial growth. With this growth came the opportunies and more importantly the need for people to work. This new opportunity left many people hoping to earn money and go from “rags to riches”.
Along with the reason for immigration, these different generations also saw differnt stuggles and problems they were forced to face. In the early 1800s the main issue immigrants were faced with was nativism and anti-immigrant feelings. During new immigration, people in America felt threated by these new immigrants. The main reason