First Wave of Immigration in the USA

As an introduction we should know that in the USA there have been different waves of immigration, specifically 4.

THE FIRST WAVE: 1790-1820

Total Immigrants: approximately 1.2 million

THE SECOND WAVE: 1820-1860

Total Immigrants: 15.3 million.

THE THIRD WAVE: 1880-1914

Total Immigrants: 22.3 million

THE FORTH WAVE: 1965-Present

In this entry we will write specifically about the first wave of immigration in the USA.

In this first wave there were a total of 1.2 million immigrants who decided to start a new life in the United States. They were mainly Protestants from northwestern Europe. We can see it in the first census of 1790:

The symbolic Port of Entry for the first wave of immigrants was Plymouth Rock. Through this port, mostly English immigrants arrived in the USA. This port became a symbol for the United States because thanks to it came people from different parts of the world to make the USA a diverse country full of culture.

These immigrants went to the USA for a variety of reasons:

• Economy: Europe did not offer enough job opportunities to the people who lived there, so they opted to look for new opportunities in the United States. Many of these immigrants came with a work contract to pay for their stay in this new country, mainly as servants or as teachers. The first black Africans brought over in the Triangle Trade went to the USA also did so with a work contract as servants, although most of them were deceived and ended up being slaves.

• Political Freedom: In the United States there was much more freedom of expression than in Europe because citizens were still controlled by kings and by aristocats.

• Religious Freedom: Throughout these years the Catholic religion was the official religion of the state, so many persecutions were carried out by the Catholic Church to those who did not share that religious thought. Many people traveled to the USA in search of freedom of worship. Most people in the USA believed in Protestant Christianity.

In general, American citizens accepted immigrants who came from Europe except for enslaved Africans. That was because between them there were few or no differences, they had the same skin color, they same religion thoughts and also because the United States was a British colony the majority of immigrants were British and therefore there were not many cultural conflicts.

However, some Americans saw these immigrants as a threat because they believed that they went to their country to take up their jobs.

This first wave of immigration also caused the Pennsylvania Assembly to criticize the German immigrants who lived there. Pensylvania welcomed a large number of German immigrants but the citizens began to see them as a threat to the security and peace of the United States. They even approved different "anti-immigrant" laws.

In conclusion this first wave of immigration brought to the United States a great variety of cultures, languages, different ways of life and a great variety of thoughts. It is a great privilege for the American citizens that a lot of people from different races were living in the same territory because that makes them able to learn from each other.

Information from:

The Forth Waves of American Immigration. Mr. Cunneen's Web Site. Online: https://sites.google.com/site/paulcunneen/home/us-history-1/immigrationunitoutline/4-waves-of-immigration

A History of Immigration in the USA. Online: https://www.sutori.com/story/a-history-of-immigration-in-the-usa