Immigration
Great Lull
• Seven Years’ War in Europe (1756)
• American Revolution
• French Revolution
• Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)
• Great Britain prohibits slavery
American Population
• Started to grow rapidly– Why?
• cheap land• job opportunities• others were forced
– From Where?• Immigrants from Western Europe
The Irish
• The potato was the staple food source for the Irish
• A fungus destroyed the potato crop and caused the Potato Famine
• As new immigrants, they took some of the lowliest jobs available (construction or laying rail road tracks)
• Irish women usually worked as household workers
The Germans
• Harsh rulers and dictators on Germany– Large groups of people had
taken part in revolutions which failed
– Forced to flee to the United States
• Many German immigrants moved west upon arrival to the United States
• Some 60,000 fled to America after the failed Revolutions of 1848.
The American People
• Nativist:– Felt that the land of
the United States was set aside for white, American born Protestants
– Irish immigrants were mainly Catholics which did not sit well with the native
Know Nothings
• An organized group of nativists from the New York area
• When questions about the organization, they would only answer “I know nothing”
• Had someone run for president in 1856
Declines in Immigration
• Reproduction within the United States– Percent of immigrants decreases– 6 out of 7 people
• Panic of 1837– Andrew Jackson’s attack on the 2nd National
Bank– Followed by a 5 year depression
• American Civil War– 1861-1865