Transatlantic MigrationSean Verrier and Brandon Lee

Summary

During the period of time known as the Transatlantic Immigration prior to 1924 it appeared in many

ways that it was all to the United States. This statement is not true at all. The continents of North and South

America were known as the free world and many Europeans traveled back and forth between these countries.

The United States is the most famous because it received the most immigrants and the most immigrants

stayed there, instead of returning to their home country. Again with the United States keeping a large portion

of those who came. Unlike other countries in the Americas, which did have many of them stay, but not as high

as a percentage in the United States. There were a few things that were common in all of the countries. One

thing that was common among them was the groups of immigrants from the same country would live together.

They did not live in ghettos but rather in neighborhoods with people of similar descent. Another common thing

was racism within countries where immigrants were leaving and coming into. They were discriminated

between groups or even by the countries themselves. For example Asian immigrants were not liked and the

U.S even halted the immigration of Asians at one point. The biggest similarity is the reason why these people

were leaving their home countries. Some left to seek religious freedom and to be free of oppression, others in

search for more jobs and opportunities. These countries were relatively young at the time and there were

many ways to make good money. This caught the eyes of many Europeans. Many came to make good money

and then return home to have a better life for their families. A lot came and stayed, whether they liked the new

country or were making a good living off of whatever opportunity they had found. There was a frequent flow of

people back and forth up until World War 1 and a short time after. After that it slowed down, shaping the

countries into what they are today, population wise, and ethnically.

This is a graph of the immigration of the U.S. from 1870 to 1920. This was the biggest immigration period in U.S.

history. It also separates where the immigrants came from all over the word. The blue represents the Northern

and western Europeans. The black represents the people from Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and the red

represents the people from Eastern and Southern Europeans.

Immigration 1900-1990:

This is a line graph that shows the amount if immigrants entering the U.S. from 1900-1990. It also shows a steep

decline at about 1915. This was the end of the major immigration period for the U.S. There is a steep increase

after 1950 that continues to grow through 1990. Only to continue increasing after that even though the graph

does not show it.

People would come over by the hundreds. All of them crammed in small boats like this awaiting a new life in a new

country. Because of such crowdedness and lack of privacy; it was common for quite a few people on the boat to

become sick and even die on the way over. Many traveled with families or by themselves. A majority of the time

the boats were filled with people of the same country.

Diseases such as typhus and cholera often took 10 - 25% of the passengers lives, but this drastically decreased in the

1850s with improved ships and sanitary regulations. Ships took 4 to 6 weeks to travel to America in the early

1800s. In the late 1850s, companies then started to offer biweekly sailings and then weekly sailings in the 1880s.

Immigrants often left with neighbors, friends and family to immigrate at the major ports in Hamburg or Bremen.

Germans used Dutch or French ports in addition to the ones in Hamburg and Bremen,, and Italians lefts from

Naples, Genoa, Trieste and Marseilles. About 30% - 50% of these people would come to work for a few months

or years then return home to see the rest of their families and help support them.

This cartoon shows the racism the Americans had towards the Italian immigrants. The immigrants who came to the

Americas mostly filled low skill, low pay jobs and thus many Americans looked down upon the immigrants. John

R. Commons stated in a book he wrote in 1907 that the immigrants coming from the southwest were lesser in that

their countries’ governments were monarchies, education was less widespread and they were mainly agricultural

based compared to the Americans and Northeastern European’s manufacturing based countries.

This cartoon also shows racism towards the Italian immigrants. It puts them in a bad light, saying that they were a

nuisance to other citizens, they’re cleanly in their homes and they often fight for pleasure. It is obvious that the

creator and the intended audience of this cartoon view the Italians as hindrances on society and want them out.

Although they weren't the only race discriminated, they were the most populous race coming into the Americas at

the time.

Page from handout with numbers of people coming from and going into countries:

This shows the specific number of people entering the countries in the new world from 1830-1920. Then underneath is

the amount of people from different countries in Europe from 1846-1924. The clear leader for receiving

immigrants is the U.S. The biggest sender is the United Kingdom.

This shows the countries that the immigrants are coming from and going to across the Atlantic Ocean. There are four

major countries that are taking in millions of immigrants. The majority of European immigrants went to the United

States, and the biggest The European countries that people are coming from greatly out number the countries

that are receiving them.

This picture shows where the European immigrants were coming from and how many of them were coming from each

of those countries every ten years. The most immigrants came between 1901 and 1911. Many of them were

Italians, and people from the United Kingdom. There was a steep rise towards 1909 in the amount of immigrants

thaat were comming to the Americas

Walter Nugent was a historian and a professor at both The University of Notre Dame for 16 years and Indiana

University for 21. He has taught in various other countries such as England, Germany and Ireland and has written

11 books and over 200 reviews and essays.

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• Nugent, Walter. "History News Network." History News Network. http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/28302.html (accessed June 17, 2013).

• "Reading Memorial High School Home Page." Walter Nugent Document. http://www.edline.net/pages/Reading_HS (accessed June 17, 2013).

• "ellis island | Modern American History." Blogs@Baruch. http://blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/his1005spring2011/tag/ellis-island (accessed June 17, 2013).

• "Immigration in the United States." Italian Canadians as Enemy Aliens: Memories of World War II. http://www.italiancanadianww2.ca/collection/details/ldicea2012_0014_0013 (accessed June 17, 2013).

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