Immigration

I

Introduction

Immigration, the movement of people into another nation with the intention of residing there permanently. The contrasting term emigration refers to the movement of people permanently leaving a nation.

Immigration is a worldwide phenomenon. From the 17th century to the 19th century, millions of Europeans migrated to North and South America, eastern and southern Africa, Australia, and Asia. Many of these immigrants resettled in colonies established by their home countries (see Colonies and Colonialism). Most modern immigrants, like the colonists of the past, are motivated to relocate far from their original homes by the desire to improve their economic situation. Such people, known as economic immigrants, resettle in other countries in search of jobs, farmland, or business opportunities. Today, economic migrations generally bring people from less developed, poorer countries to more developed and more prosperous countries.

Although economic immigration accounts for most of the movements of people between countries, a substantial number of immigrants around the world are refugees. Some refugees relocate to avoid religious or political persecution, suffered on account of their beliefs. Wars, political turmoil, and natural disasters drive others away from their homeland. For example, at the end of World War I in 1918, ten million displaced people wandered throughout Europe. Most of these refugees came from the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian empires, which had broken up into smaller nations at the end of the war. After World War II ended in 1945, another several million refugees immigrated to countries in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. Today, experts calculate that there are more than 15 million refugees in search of new homes throughout the world. Faster international communication, improved transportation, and the willingness of some nations to grant political asylum to those in distress have allowed people from every continent to seek greater opportunities in more prosperous and more democratic areas.

The remainder of this article focuses on immigration to the United States. Four centuries of immigration have profoundly affected the culture and society of the United States. Except for Native Americans, all Americans are either recent immigrants or the descendants of immigrants who have settled in North America over the last five centuries.

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II

A Nation of Immigrants

Although the United States has been shaped by successive waves of immigrants, Americans have often viewed immigration as a problem. Established Americans often look down on new immigrants. The cultural habits of immigrants are frequently targets of criticism, especially when the new arrivals come from a different country than those in the established community. Despite such tensions, economic needs have always forced Americans to seek immigrants as laborers and settlers, and economic opportunities have beckoned foreigners. The vast majority of immigrants to the United States have come in search of jobs and the chance to create a better life for themselves and their families. In all of American history, less than 10 percent of immigrants have come for political or religious reasons.

Economic immigrants from Europe, Asia, and Latin America have come to the United States voluntarily. Others, most notably African Americans, were involuntarily transported to North America to do forced labor or to be sold as slaves. Regardless of the reasons they come to the United States, new immigrants typically work in menial, labor-intensive, low-paying, and dangerous jobs—occupations that most other Americans shun. They are often treated with disdain until they assimilate—that is, adopt the mainstream American culture established by earlier immigrants.

Although immigrants are expected to absorb the beliefs and standards of the dominant society, most immigrant groups try to maintain their own cultural heritage, language, and religious practices. Some groups, such as the Huguenots (French Protestants) who immigrated during the colonial period, assimilated within one or two generations. Others, such as the German and Irish immigrants of the 19th century, still maintain some aspects of their traditional cultures.

Traditionally the United States has been described as a melting pot, a place where the previous identities of each immigrant group are melted down to create an integrated, uniform society. Since the 1960s, many Americans have rejected the melting pot metaphor in favor of the image of the mosaic, a picture created by assembling many small stones or tiles. In a mosaic, each piece retains its own distinctive identity, while contributing to a larger design. Advocates of the mosaic metaphor assert that it better represents the diverse multicultural society of the United States. Today, many Americans value their immigrant heritage as an important part of their identity. More recent immigrant groups from Asia, such as Vietnamese Americans and Korean Americans, have established communities alongside those populated by the descendants of European immigrants, such as French Americans, German Americans, Irish Americans, and Italian Americans.

III

During the Colonial Period

A

The English

The first immigrants to colonial America came almost exclusively from western Europe. During the first decades of the 17th century, settlers from England colonized Virginia and New England. They established the first permanent English settlement in North America at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607. The English settled in Virginia in the low-lying fertile areas around Chesapeake Bay and along the rivers of the coastal plain to the south. They soon developed an economy dependent on the cultivation of tobacco for export to Europe. Although highly profitable, tobacco cultivation required intensive labor. Many people convicted of petty crimes in England were often sent to the American colonies as indentured servants, laborers who were forced to work for a period of four to seven years before regaining their freedom.

The first Africans were brought to Virginia to work for tobacco planters in 1619. It is unclear whether these first Africans were brought as indentured servants or as slaves, as most later Africans brought to the colonies were. Although the number of African American slaves grew slowly at first, by the 1680s they were perceived as essential to the economy of Virginia. During the 17th and 18th centuries, African American slaves lived in all of England’s North American colonies. Before Britain prohibited its subjects from participating in the slave trade, between 600,000 and 650,000 Africans had been forcibly transported to North America.

Immigration to New England began in 1620 when English religious dissenters known as the Pilgrims established Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts. A larger settlement of English Puritans was founded on the shores of Massachusetts Bay in 1629 (see Puritanism). Between 1629 and 1640, approximately 21,000 English colonists crossed the Atlantic Ocean to settle in New England. The values of these Puritan settlers strongly influenced the culture of the American colonies and later of the United States. Although some New Englanders owned slaves in the 17th and 18th centuries, slavery never played a major role in the New England economy. The Puritans spoke English, practiced a Protestant faith, and valued hard work and commercial success. The Puritans also believed in the importance of education. Over time, many people came to equate these characteristics with Americans in general.

B

The Dutch and Swedes

In the early 17th century settlers from other Western European countries also established themselves on the Atlantic Coast of North America. The Dutch established the colony of New Netherland in the region of present-day New York in 1614 and began settlement of the area in 1624. There they founded the city of New Amsterdam, now New York City, in 1626. Sweden established a colony known as New Sweden in the area of present-day Delaware in 1638. The Dutch absorbed New Sweden in 1655, only to lose all of their North American colonies to the British in 1664. These early colonies were often quite cosmopolitan, drawing settlers from many nations. When the English seized New Amsterdam, the city was home to perhaps 1500 residents, including Walloons, Huguenots, Swedes, Dutchmen, and African Americans.

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