” Man is of all sorts of luggage the most diffcult to be transported.” -Adam Smith
Introduction
The United States has often been referred to as a “nation of immigrants.” While immigration has historically been the country’s foundation, immigration continues to shape the structure and composition of the population. The majority of migrants move in response to economic pressures, but some migrants—called refugees—move because of fear. Recognizing their story is also an important part of understanding international migration.
Global Migration Pattern
- net out migrants (Asia, Latin America, Africa)
- net in migrants (North America, Europe, Oceania)
Largest flows of Migration
a. Europe from Asia
b. North America from Asia
c. North America from Latin America
What does it reflects????
- from LDCs to MDCs
- low incomes and high natural increase rates to wealthy countries (jobs=brighter)
Did you know: countries with high percentage of immigrants are: (not in specific order)
- Australia
- Canada
- France
- Germany India
- Pakistan
- Saudi Arabia
- United Kingdom
- United States
Did you know: more than one half are clustered in four states:
- California
- New York
- Florida
- Texas
NEED TO KNOW FACT: coastal states were once the main entry points for immigrants because they would arrive by ships but today they arrive by cars or planes.
- the United States plays a special role in the study of international migration
- the world’s third most populous country is inhabited overwhelmingly by direct descendants of immigrants
- about 70 million people have migrated to the United States since 1820 including the 30 million currently alive
- has three main eras of immigration(first initial settlement of colonies; second:began in the mid-nineteenth century and culminated in the early twentieth century;third:began in the 1970’s and continues today)
- the three eras have drawn migrants from different regions
- first era African slaves and English
- second era Europeans
- third era Latin Americans and Asians
Colonial Immigration from England and Africa
- came from Europe and Africa
- some early migrants included some Dutch, Swedes, French, Germans, German-Swiss, Spanish, and Portuguese
- 400,000 Africans were forced over as slaves prior 1808
- 250,000 Africans were brought to the United States during the next half century
Nineteenth-Century Immigration from Europe
- 65 million Europeans have migrated to other continents
- 40 million of them desired to come to the United States
- remainder of the 60 million went to temperate climates of Canada, Australia, New Zealand,southern Africa, and southern South Africa
- the remainder used farming methods used in Europe in those places listed above
- among Europe, Germany has sent the largest number of immigrants to the United States (7.2 million)
- other countries also such as: Italy(5.4 million), United Kingdom(5.3 million), Ireland(4.8 million), and Russia formerly known as the Soviet Union(4.1 million)
Ellis Island Summary
The House Committee of Immigration chose Ellis Island as the site for a new immigrant screening station. The original station, Castle Garden at the Battery in lower Manhattan, could not longer handle the flow of immigrants. To accommodate the size of the new facility, the island was increased to 3.3 acres by means of landfill and a ferry slip was built. In the following two years, Ellis was enlarged to fourteen acres in order to contain immigration depot and support buildings. By January 1st of 1892, Ellis’s first immigration station, a two-story-high structure of Georgia pine, was open ready for business. A report in Harper’s Weekly described the new building as a “latter-day watering place hotel, presenting to the view a great many-windowed expanse of buff-painted wooden walls, of blue slate roofing, and of light an picturesque towers.”On opening day, Col. John B. Weber, the new commissioner for the post of New York, presented a ten dollar gold piece to the first immigrant to pass through the gates of the new station. Fifteen year old Annie Moore’s response to the gift was “she will never part with it, but will always keep it as a pleasant momento of the occasion.”
Links for more information:
http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Eihist.html
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/97m259nk
http://www.ssrc.org/publications/view/1EF198E0-EB51-DE11-AFAC-001CC477EC70/
Syerra Meadows and Janet Smith, 7
