The Puritans immigrated to New England in the 1630s for the following reasons:
A desire to escape political repression
A desire to find new economic opportunities
A desire to escape restrictions on their religious practices
The Puritans who immigrated to New England were part of what is known as the Great English Migration that numbered some 70,000 people. It is interesting to note that over twice as many Puritans migrated to the West Indies as to New England
The Proclamation of 1763 set a boundary along the crest of the Appalachians beyond which the colonists could not cross. The ban was an ill-considered attempt to prevent costly conflicts with Trans-Appalachian Indians
As American Indians were defeated, Scotch-Irish, German, and English immigrants moved into Appalachia
British colonists were principally motivated to settle west of the Appalachians by the low price and easy availability of land
TEST TIPS: American settlers ignored the Proclamation of 1763, and so do many APUSH test writers, however, have not ignored the Proclamation of 1763. They have written a surprising number of questions to see if APUSH students remember the purpose of this often forgotten boundary.
THE EARLY 19th CENTURY: 1800-1850
THE IRISH
Ireland supplied the largest number of immigrants to the U.S. during the first half of the 19thcentury
The Irish fled the devastating effects of the potato famine
Most Irish immigrants settled in urban cities along the Eastern Seaboard
Many Irish immigrants worked on canal and railroad construction projects
THE GERMANS
Germany supplied the second-largest number of immigrants to the U.S. during the first half of the 19th century
Many Germans were fleeing political turmoil in their homeland
The Know-Nothings were America’s first nativist political party
The Know-Nothings directed their hostility against Catholic immigrants from Ireland and Germany
THE LATE 19th AND EARLY 20th CENTURY: 1880-1924
EXODUSTERS
Exodusters were African Americans who fled the violence of the Reconstruction South in 1879 and 1880
Most Exodusters migrated to Kansas
THE NEW IMMIGRANTS
Prior to 1880, most immigrants to the U.S. came from the British Isles and Western Europe
Beginning in the 1880s, a new wave of immigrants left Europe for America. The so-called New Immigrants came from small towns and villages in Eastern and Southern Europe. The majority immigrated from Italy, Russia, Poland, and Austria-Hungary
Very few New Immigrants settled in the South
THE CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT OF 1882
This was the first law in American history to exclude a group because of ethnic background
The act prohibited the immigration of Chinese to America
It was strongly supported by working-class Americans
It reflected anti-immigration sentiment in California
NATIVIST OPPOSITION TO THE NEW IMMIGRANTS
Nativists opposed the New Immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the following reasons:
The New Immigrants had different languages and cultures
The New Immigrants were willing to work for lower wages than native-born workers (remember: this wave of immigration coincides with the Industrial Revolution)
The New Immigrants were not familiar with the American political system
THE NATIONAL ORIGINS ACT OF 1924
The primary purpose of the National Origins Act was to use quotas to restrict the flow of newcomers from Southern and Eastern Europe
The quotas favored immigration from Northern and Western Europe
The quotas established by the National Origins Act discriminated against immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. These quotas were the primary reason for the decrease in the numbers of Europeans immigrating to the U.S. in the 1920s
The number of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans immigrating to the U.S. increased because neither group was affected by the restrictive immigration acts of 1921 and 1924.
THE BLACK MIGRATION
CAUSES
Jim Crow laws denied African Americans their rights as citizens and forced them to endure poverty and systematic discrimination
Beginning with World War I, the wartime demand for labor attracted African Americans to cities in the North and West continued during World War II
LEAVING THE RURAL SOUTH
In 1915, the overwhelming majority of African Americans lived in the rural South
Attracted by the wartime demand for labor, African Americans migrated to urban centers in the North and West
The last 25 years have witnessed a significant increase in immigration from Latin America and Asia
Latinos now make up nearly 33% of the population in Texas, Arizona, and California; they make up 40% of New Mexico
TEST TIP: Most APUSH exams have very few questions on the period since 1980. When APUSH test writers do cover the last three decades, they often ask questions about the population shifts and demographic trends discussed in this section.
