Immigration in the 19th and Early 20th Century

As a student of culture in all its forms, the writing below was my response to the questions in blue that were given to me for a course on immigration at Metro.

Discuss the ties between immigration and urbanization in the nineteenth and early twentieth century.  What newcomers crossed the Atlantic Ocean during the “century of immigration”, and how did their presence lead to dramatic growth in Northeastern and Midwestern cities?  What motivated immigrants to come to the United States from various European sources, and what opportunities and obstacles did they face upon their arrival?  What role did immigrants play in the development of industrialization?

The nineteenth century showed a growth in population in America’s urban areas which could be attributed to immigration. Many groups of people (like the Irish, Germans, and Italians) moving to America during this time period lead to dramatic increases of growth in Northeastern and Midwestern cities. Each of these groups had their own motives for coming to America, and each group ran into both opportunities and obstacles on their journeys. Industrialization was helped by the influx of immigrant workers and helped them to find more ways to raise wanted funds. Growth was the focus of this time period and it was seen as both positive and negative.

            As the nineteenth century moved into the twentieth, urbanization became linked with immigration. As time passed more and more immigrants were moving into urban areas when compared to them moving into rural areas in earlier periods (Daniels, 121). There was a break in where different groups of people headed once they came to America. Groups like the Chinese, Irish, and Italians became mostly urban while groups like the Japanese and Scandinavians stayed mostly rural (Daniels, 121). “The impact of the material and social conditions of American life” helped to guide some groups to be more urban like it did the Irish (Daniels, 136).  Some of these groups helped Northeastern and Midwestern cities to increase their growths dramatically due to this more urban focus. 

            One of these groups that lead to this increase was the Irish. When compared to other groups the Irish stayed more often where they migrated then other immigrants (Daniels, 127). It can be inferred from this that with few returning home or moving elsewhere that their numbers quickly rose. Even though most Germans did not settle in cities for the most part, the cities of the Northeast and Midwest attracted them so much that they made up a third of the population in some cities (Daniels, 149-150). Even though the Swedes usually ended up in rural areas, in the Midwest they made their mark in cities like Chicago where they made up “nearly 9 percent” of the population (Daniels, 169). All of this movement to America was because each of these groups had motivations that drove them forward.

            The Irish had diverse motivations for leaving Ireland that changed through time. In 1791 Ireland was “the most densely populated country in Europe” (Daniels, 128). Because of this large population land was hard to come by for people to make a living and the country did not really have an industrial sector to give people other options for work (Daniels, 128). Then the worst famine hit in 1846 and along with this came disease (Daniels, 133). With no outside help, like from the British government, people were forced to leave for basic survival (Daniels, 134). Unlike the Irish, Germans were mostly moving because of economics. Germans were often “dislocated or threatened by a vigorous, if uneven, economic growth” (Daniels, 146). Lesser factors for German immigration were religion and politics (Daniels, 147-148). These differences showed that it was more of a choice for Germans then it had been for the Irish. Like the Germans there were economic reasons for Swedes to leave that were both economic and religious. The economic issues arose from over population issues in their home country (similar to the Irish) and the religious issues came from “Jassonists” and Mormon converts flocking to America (Daniels, 168). These groups came to America looking for personal growth in some shape or form and the opportunities they found helped to meet these goals.

            One of these groups, the Irish, found opportunities with physical labor by working on canals, railways, sewers, and other jobs that were important to the American infrastructure (Daniels, 130). The Germans had better opportunities then the Irish because they were able to find work in the skilled trades which included jobs like bankers, nurses, and tailors (Daniels, 150). Swedes that made it past their first decade in America could get to positions where they could move into better neighborhoods from money that they had saved from working and were known for establishing schools, churches, and media intuitions (Daniels, 170-171). There were also obstacles in the way to try and block immigrants from meeting their goals of personal growth.

            Anti-Irish sentiments made it hard for the Irish to find jobs, with job adds even explicitly telling Irish not to apply (Daniels, 131). This was the response from people seeing the growth of the Irish population in a negative light. The Germans on the other hand had had internal divisions that stopped them from showing a united front. This included Germans identifying as other groups instead as a unified front and religious differences (Daniels, 152). To a lesser extent immigrants had to deal with other immigrant groups trying to cause issues for them. One example of this was the Italians trying to stem incoming Swedes and Irish (unsuccessfully) (Daniels, 170). Even with these obstacles, growth of the nation was happening through industrialization.

            Urbanization and industrialization often times ran together so the increase in one was likely to cause an increase in the other. Factories and related industries were found either in cities or on the outskirts of the cities. When Irish women were not working in the service industry one of their primary jobs was in the New England textile industry (Daniels, 143). This allowed them another option that many did take advantage of.  Even though German women “were less likely to enter the labor force”, German men still found jobs in industry such as machinists (Daniels, 150). The growth in population (plus the influx of immigration) helped to provide more workers to work in factories and other industries so that these industries could then grow creating even more jobs.

            Immigration became more linked to urbanization as people were drawn to the cities instead of to rural areas. Many groups moved into cities of the Northeast and Midwest because of the pull of jobs and many of these immigrants decided to stay once they had settled in. Their motives were different based on what was happening in their home countries, but all groups ran into both opportunities and obstacles. Many of the opportunities they found were linked with industrialization which was one of the main pull factors that got them moving to the cities. This was a period of growth be it in the form of industry, city, or personal.

Roger Daniels, Coming to America: A Story of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life, Second Edition (ISBN 9780060505776)