Social science: concepts, theories, and applications

¶ … immigration in the United States is a complex topic that can only be understood in any depth by employing the perspectives of different social-science disciplines. The focus of this paper is immigration to American in the early to mid-nineteenth century and looks at the causes and consequences of it from a historical, economic, political, and geographic perspective. Given the paper's scope and the fact that immigration to America is such a large, complex topic, this paper will, by necessity, speak in generalities, using information from specific countries as examples rather than thoroughly analyzing and discussing the immigration experience of individual countries.

The United States began its "life" as a new nation "with no encouragement to immigrants except those offered by its [inherent] opportunities and with no barriers except those confronting native and foreigner alike" (Hansen, p. 56). Although "immigration policy has been a political issue since the nation's founding," it was not until the late nineteenth century that the nation began to seriously question this policy (INS, 1991). In the 1890s, Congress passed national immigration laws, created a federal agency to oversee immigration, and began to consider uniform rules for naturalization.

Three distinct stages of migration marked the nineteenth century. The first, from the 1830s to around 1854, consisted of people primarily from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The next period, from 1860 to 1890, consisted primarily of English and German peoples. The third period, from 1890 to 1914, consisted of people of Mediterranean and Slavic descent.

There was a variety of reasons why people from all over the Old World chose to come to America to start a new life for themselves. These reasons are known as either "push" factors or "pull" factors. War, unemployment, and famine are examples of push factors. The ability to get cheap, fertile new land in America was a pull factor. "To many, probably the majority, economic freedom made an even greater appeal than political freedom" (Hansen, p. 160).

The bulk of the people who came to America during this time bolstered the U.S. economy in a broad, although not very technical, sense. In England, for example, "the government sought jealously to guard the technical knowledge and experiences that assured the nation its industrial supremacy...common laborers faced fewer difficulties" (Hansen, pp. 97-8). However, "no persons had ever departed in a more distressed condition than those of the years from 1815 to 1819. Many had to sell their labor as redemptioners in order to defray the cost of passage" (Hansen, p. 155).

The addition of an estimated 17 million people to America during these years had a profound effect on the country, especially from a political and economic perspective. Many of these immigrants moved to the growing American cities and towns where industrialization in the New World created a constant demand for labor. Industrial growth even made trans-Atlantic travel easier. Steam-powered ships running on regular schedules and the telegraph both worked to create a reliable transportation system (INS, 1991).

Thus, economically speaking, they infused the labor force with an influx of ready and willing workers, who found employment as mechanics, factory workers, masons, or carpenters. They dug ditches, built railroads, and farmed tobacco and cotton. Eventually, "the emigrant had become a leading article of commerce" in his or her own right (Hansen, p. 179).

From a political perspective, immigrants, often unwittingly at times, were a force on the policies and practices of both individual colonies and states and the country. For example, "Pennsylvania's success in attracting propertied Europeans...was an important factor leading to the change in policies of settlement which began in the late seventeenth century" (Hansen, p. 43).

Furthermore, the waves of immigration to the United States caused changes in national population policy as well. In fact, the history of national immigration laws can be considered a roadmap of the political effect immigrants had on this country.

The Immigration Act of August 3, 1882 made the regulation of immigration a duty of the federal government. It gave the Treasury Secretary authority to administer the immigration laws, but left enforcement up to the states.

The first national contract labor law in 1885 and another one in 1887 were aimed at ending the practice, by some employers, of importing large groups of workers, which lowered domestic wages. Another law passed in 1888 permitted the deportation of alien contract laborers within one year after their entry into America.

The first law passed that excluded a specific nationality was the Chinese Exclusion Law, passed in 1882. This law sharply limited the number of Chinese citizens allowed to enter the United States. It was not repealed until 1943.

Additional laws in the late nineteenth century served to further increase the federal government's role in regulating immigration while reducing the duties of the states. The Immigration Act of 1891 excluded polygamists, persons convicted of "crimes involving moral turpitude," and those suffering a "loathsome or contagious disease." This was a particularly significant law because, for the first time, the medical examination of immigrants was required. Another law in 1903 added epileptics, insane persons, professional beggars, and anarchists to the list.