Many Immigrants Entered the USA around 1900

After the Civil War, around 1880, many great changes could be seen happening all over they world. These events will eventually lead to a great immigration of people into the United States between 1880 and 1920. The surge of people came primarily from Europe and Asia due to problems occurring within their countries. During this time period, people from these countries were finding it difficult for them and their family to live. The United States began to change also as it was the time of the Industrial Revolution. Many people left their homes in search of a better life in the United States.

Prior to the rush of immigrants into the United States, we were facing our own Civil War. The Civil War was the reason why the rush of immigrants didn’t occur until later around 1880. A few years after the war, a great change occurred in the United States. This change was the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The revolution caused the primary focus of economy to be centered around industry rather than agricultural jobs such as farming. This created many jobs that required the workers to have no skill or experience, the perfect type of job for new immigrants. At first, the immigrants were mainly males hoping to find work and support their family back in their home country. Most immigrants planned to return to their home country after working for a few years in the United States but only about 50% returned.

Europe supplied many of the United States immigrants during this period. Young men would travel here to work during the spring and leave by winter. In early 1900s, one event caused over two million people to immigrate into the United States. That event was World War I. The war caused people to flee the hostilities, “bringing 2,400,000 newcomers in 1913-1914” (The Huddled Masses, pg18). European Jews sought religious freedom as well as economic prosperity, so they often brought over their families to the United States in a hope of escaping the oppression. Another group of people who chose to leave Europe were those that did not feel bound to the country they were born into.

Immigrants form Asian countries, primarily Russia, China, and Japan, can be seen entering the United States during this time. Jews and Poles from Russia left to avoid the religious and ethnic persecution. Russian Jews wanted to escape the government sanctioned attacks, called pogroms. Economic problems resulted in the immigration of many poor Chinese farmers in search of work. Nativists and laborers feared that the new Chinese immigrants would cause too much economic competition. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was put into place. This act stopped all emigration from China into the United States until after World War II. Many Japanese immigrants found themselves working in Hawaii. Due to the increased number of people that left Japan, the Japanese government forced them to return and over the next seventeen years, prevented any contacted laborers from leaving the country.

During the late 19th century and early 20th , a great change took place causing an influx of people to immigrate into the United States. The United States was going through its own Industrial Revolution, opening up many job opportunities for newly arrived immigrants. Jews from all around the world came to the Untied States in search of religious freedom and a place to escape the oppression that was cursing them in their home countries. Chinese and Japanese immigrants were focused many and the west coast and due to the large amount of people leaving their countries, several acts and laws were put into place that prevent them from entering the United States till many years later. In the end, the main reasons why immigrants left their home countries was to escape oppression and support their families.