| Distribution
of Immigrants Before 1790: |
| Africa:
|
360,000 |
| England:
|
230,000 |
| Ulster:
|
135,000 |
| Germany:
|
103,000 |
| Scotland:
|
48,500 |
| Ireland:
|
8,000 |
| Netherlands:
|
6,000 |
| Wales:
|
4,000 |
| France:
|
3,000 |
| Jews:
|
2,000 |
| Sweden:
|
500 |
| 1790
U.S. Ancestry Groups: |
| English:
|
1,900,000 |
| African:
|
750,000 |
| Scotch-Irish:
|
320,000 |
| German:
|
280,000 |
| Irish:
|
200,000 |
| Scottish:
|
160,000 |
| Welsh:
|
120,000 |
| Dutch:
|
100,000 |
| French:
|
80,000 |
| Native
Am. : |
50,000 |
| Spanish:
|
20,000 |
| Swedish
and other |
20,000 |
| CENSUS RECORDS |
Valuable immigrant data you can find
in many census records:
- Year of immigration
- No. of years in U.S.
- Naturalization status
- Year of naturalization
- Native language
- Father's native language
- Mother's native language
Search Census Records
|
| FOREIGN RECORDS |
Click
Here
to access the following International record collections free for 14 days:
All UK/Ireland Records
Immigration Records
Ireland Records
Wales Records
England Records
Scotland Records
International Databases
|
|
|
TIMELINE
OF IMMIGRATION TO U.S. 1815-1950 |
| |
1815: |
The
first great wave of immigration begins, bringing 5 million immigrants between
1815 and 1860. |
| |
1818: |
Liverpool
becomes the most-used port of departure for Irish and British immigrants. |
| |
1819: |
The
first federal legislation on immigration requires notation of passenger
lists. |
| |
1820: |
The
U.S. population is about 9.6 million. About 151,000 new immigrants arrive
in 1820 alone. |
| |
1825: |
Great
Britain decrees that England is overpopulated and repeals laws prohibiting
emigration. The first group of Norwegian immigrants arrive. |
| |
1846-7: |
Crop
failures in Europe. Mortgage foreclosures send tens of thousands of the
dispossessed to United States. |
| |
1846: |
Irish
of all classes emigrate to the United States as a result of the potato famine. |
| |
1848: |
German
political refugees emigrate following the failure of a revolution. |
| |
1862: |
The
Homestead Act encourages naturalization by granting citizens title to 160
acres. |
| |
1875: |
First
limitations on immigration. Residency permits required of Asians. |
| |
1880: |
The
U.S. population is 50,155,783. More than 5.2 million immigrants enter the
country between 1880 and 1890. |
| |
1882: |
Chinese
exclusion law is established. Russian anti-Semitism prompts a sharp rise
in Jewish emigration. |
| |
1890: |
New
York is home to as many Germans as Hamburg, Germany. |
| |
1891: |
The
Bureau of Immigration is established. Congress adds health qualifications
to immigration restrictions. |
| |
1892: |
Ellis
Island replaces Castle Garden. |
| |
1894-6: |
To
escape Moslem massacres, Armenian Christians emigrate. |
| |
1897: |
Pine-frame
buildings on Ellis Island are burned to the ground in a disastrous fire. |
| |
1900: |
The
U.S. population is 75,994,575. More than 3,687,000 immigrants were admitted
in the previous ten years. Ellis Island receiving station reopens with brick
and ironwork structures. |
| |
1906: |
Bureau
of Immigration is established. |
| |
1910: |
The
Mexican Revolution sends thousands to the United States seeking employment. |
| |
1914-8: |
World
War I halts a period of mass migration to the United States. |
| |
1921: |
The
first quantitave immigration law sets temporary annual quotas according
to nationality. Immigration drops off. |
| |
1924: |
The
National Origins Act establishes a discriminatory quota system. The Border
Patrol is established. |
| |
1940: |
The
Alien Registration Act calls for registration and fingerprinting of all
aliens. Approximately 5 million aliens register. |
| |
1946: |
The
War Brides Act facilitates the immigration of foreign-born wives, fiances,
husbands, and children of U.S. Armed Forces personnel. |
| |
1952: |
The
Immigration and Naturalization Act brings into one comprehensive statute
the multiple laws that govern immigration and naturalization to date. |
| |
1954: |
Ellis
Island closes, marking an end to mass immigration. |
