Katie Lynch

Mr. Widenhofer
AP U.S. History
9 January 2018
Immigration Long Essay
Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, the United States began its Second

Industrial Revolution, which focused on steel. Innovations in communication like the telephone,

transportation like railroads, and industry like steel mills led to an increase in jobs and thus,

immigration. This was mostly during old immigration, before 1880. New immigration also saw

many innovations such as monopolies on industries like steel by Carnegie or oil by Rockefeller.

Women were able to join the workforce and work in textile mills, steel mills, or work as a

stenographer. This ultimately led to the women’s suffrage movement in the early 20th century.

All of these job opportunities led to urbanization and a large increase in city growth.

Overcrowding and insanitation in cities were common. This led to the social crusades which was

a movement dedicated to fixing problems city dwellers faced. The prompt is only partially valid

because although there were similarities between old and new immigration like American public

reaction and reason to immigrate, there were also many differences like assimilation, economic

status, and scale of immigration.

To begin, there were similarities between old and new immigration like American public

reaction and reason to immigrate. American public reaction for both waves was negative. Anti-

immigration groups that favored American-born citizens emerged. The Know-Nothing Party was

a political party during the first wave of immigration that discriminated against Catholics and

foreigners. The American Protective Association (APA) was an organization, not political party,

that focused on discriminating against Catholic candidates running for political office.
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Additionally, reasons to immigrate were similar. Job opportunities allowed for immigrants to

make money for their families. Cheap land was attractive to those living in squalor in their

original countries. Social mobility allowed hard workers to climb the social ladder of status and

not be stuck in one occupation. There were many similarities between old and new immigration.

In addition, there were many differences between old and new immigration such as

assimilation, economic status, and scale of immigration. People coming before 1880 were mostly

Irish and British who spoke English. Germans who came were usually bilingual. Majority were

literate. This made assimilation easier and faster. On the other hand, those coming after 1880

were from Southern and Eastern Europe and thus, non-English speaking. Majority were illiterate.

This made assimilation difficult and led to neighborhoods of single nationalities who shared a

language and culture. Secondly, old immigrants mostly had some money with them and were

able to settle in rural areas. In contrast, new immigrants were mostly dirt-poor and had to settle

in cities close to factory jobs. This led to overcrowding in cities and the unpleasant conditions

that took place before the Social Crusades. Lastly, scale of immigration was different. Old

immigration was not nearly as overwhelming as new, numerically. 1880-1910 saw 5,000

immigrants a day. These differences show the partial validity of the prompt.

An end of an era occurred after World War I. The Immigration Act of 1924 and

Emergency Quota Act of 1921 greatly limited immigration. These policies were passed as a

result of the Red Scare. Russia had become communist in 1917 and made communism a bigger

threat to the U.S. Fear of communism as well as fear of anarchism led o these acts being passed.

This shows that fear of outside ideas disrupting a nation can isolate a country and force it in on

itself. This is what happened to the U.S. during the 1920’s. Interestingly, fear and hate of

immigration had been around since the Know-Nothing Party and APA around 1880. However,
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these groups never made a solid impact. Quota acts passed and marked the end of two great

waves of immigration.

Overall, similarities between old and new immigration like American public reaction and

reason to immigrate and differences like assimilation, economic status, and scale of immigration

show the partial validity of the prompt.