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IMMIGRATION BEFORE INDEPENDENCE

Today's American Indians call themselves native Americans, but in reality they were not natives here, Rather they were the area's earliest immigrants. They came to the Western Hemisphere from Asia more than 20,000 years ago. By the 15th century, there were 15 to 20 million Indians in the Americas. Perhaps as many as 700,000 were living within the present limits of the United States when Columbus discovered the New Worlds (the Western Hemisphere) in 1492.

During the 1500s, French and Spanish explorers visited the New World» But the first Europeans who came to stay were English.

The first permanent colony in the U.S.A. was established in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 by 104 British ñolonists. In 1620, a second British colony, consisting of 102 people, was founded in Plymouth, Massachusetts. These were the beginnings of a nation that, by 1988, had grown to 144 million.

In 1790, the white population of the 13 original states totaled slightly more than 3 million. About 75% of these first Americans were of British ancestry; the rest were German, Dutch, French, Swiss and Spanish. The British gave the new nation its language, laws and philosophy of government.

 

IMMIGRATION FROM 1790 TO 1920

American Independence didn’t immediately stimulate immigration. Between 1790 and 1840, fewer than 1 mln foreigners entered the country. But between 1841 and 1860 more than 4 mln arrived. They came primarily from Ireland, England, Germany and France. Potato crop failures in Ireland stimulated Irish immigration. Germans came to escape economic and political difficulties. During the last half of the 19th century, many Scandinavians came attracted by good farmland. The Industrial Revolution and the Westward Movement gave new immigrants a vital role in the nation’s economic development. Employers who needed factory workers and landowners who wanted tenant for western lands sent agents to Europe to "sell" America. Agents of steam­ship lines and railroad companies attracted thousands of immig­rants) with fabulous stories about the land of opportunity.

Immigration took another great leap after 1880. Between 1881 and 1920, 23,5 million aliens were admitted. Nearly 90% of these newcomerâ were from Europe, After 1882, the government kept Asian immigration to a minimum because American workers feared that new Asian immigrants would threaten their jobs and lower their wages.

In the 1890s, the sources of European immigration began to shift. Between 1881 and 1890,80% of American immigrants had come from Northern and Western Europe, By 1911, 77% were coming from Southern and Eastern Europe-Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and areas that later became Poland and Czechoslovakia. Many of those Eastern Russia Romania, end Poland were Jews feeling religious prosecution.

 

Immigration since 1920.

During World War I, immigration declined due to traveling dif­ficulties. After the war, Europeans once again began crowding ab­oard ships to the United States. But American industry no longer needed them. During the 1920s, Congress passed the first quota law that limited the number of European immigrants.



From 1930 to 1945, legal limits and World War II kept immig­ration to a minimum, When the war ended, immigration rose sharp­ly because entrance was allowed to millions of people left home­less by the war. Special legislation admitted large numbers of displaced persons, refugees, and orphans, as well as war brides. Prom time to time since them, the United States has lifted immi­gration restrictions to accommodate refugees and ease suffering in other parts of the world. In 1958, thousands of Hungarians were admitted, and in the early 1960s, because of the revolution in Cuba, more than 150,000 Cubans entered the U.S.A. To relieve crowded conditions in Hong Kong, several thousand nonquota Chinese were also permitted entry, In 1979, the United States ad­mitted more than 20,000 Vietnamese refugees per month. In the later 1970s and 1980s, many thousands of Russian Jews were also allowed to enter.

At present, there is a ceiling on immigration, allowing for 270,000 immigrants to be admitted to the USA annually, no more than 20,000 from any one country. However, during the 1980s, the number of immigrants actually admitted each year always ex­ceeded 500,000 because certain categories of applicants were ex­cluded from the numerical limitations. These exemptions included the parents, spouses, or minor children of U.S. citizens.

Immigration restrictions may seem cruel to those who are liv­ing in difficult circumstances elsewhere, but they have become necessary because in the 20th century, the United States' popu­lation has grown at a very rapid rate. In 1915, the population reached 100 million. Forty-two years later, it bad doubled. A higher birth rate, lower infant mortality, and longer life ex­pectancy had all combined to cause this population explosion. Today Americans arå having smaller families. However, the population is continuing to increase, and about 28% of this growth comes from immigration, Therefore, strict limits on immigration seem likely to continue.

Who are today’s immigrants? They are vastly different from earlier groups. Clearly, the ethnic make-up of the States is changing. From 1981 to 1985, immigration from Europe dropped to 11% of the total legal immigration, while Asia provided about 48% and Latin America about 35% of legal immigrants. In addition, about three-quarters of the illegal immigrants (about 500,000 per year) come from Latin America. If the current trends continue, experts predict that, by the year 2020, about 35% of Americans will be minority group members, primarily black Hispanic, or Asian. Looking even further ahead, by 2090, descendants of non-Hispanic European whites will he in the minority in the USA.


Date: 2015-02-03; view: 966


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