How Immigration Shaped America
Immigration has always been important to the United States. The way in which people came to the United States has changed over time.
The first immigration law in the United States was known as the Naturalization Act of 1790. This act allowed any white person to become a citizen of the United States. The person had to live in the United States for two years before applying for citizenship. They had to live in the same state for one year before becoming a citizen. The person also had to prove that they had good moral character. Within a very short period of time, the law was changed so that those who wanted to become citizens had to live in the United States for five years. Also the person wanting to become a legal citizen was required to renounce their loyalty to their former country.
This law stood for almost a hundred years. In the middle 1870s some states started complaining about the law. In 1875, the United States Supreme Court heard a case where they determined that immigration was a federal manner. That same year the United States Congress passed the first law barring people from some countries receiving citizenship. In the law, known as the Page Act of 1875, citizens of China could not become citizens of the United States. The law which became known as the Chinese Exclusion Act was in place for many years.
It was not until 1891 that the federal government overtook all responsibility for determining who was eligible to become a United States citizen. The next year the federal government opened Ellis Island. Through the gates of Ellis Island over forty percent of the current United States population can trace its roots. Ellis Island reached its prime in 1907 when as many as 11,747 immigrants passed through the gates in a single day. Many of the original immigrants were from Ireland and were escaping a great famine that held Ireland in its grips. The first person to be processed at Ellis Island was Annie Moore who arrived from Ireland on January 1, 1892. As the first immigrant Annie Moore was given a $10 gold piece. She soon was married and gave birth to eleven children. While Annie Moore was the first immigrant, she was definitely not alone. Some famous immigrants who arrived through Ellis Island included Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Murray, Charles Atlas, Johnny Weissmuller, Henry Youngman, John and Mable Ringling, Charles Chaplin, Cary Grant, Harry Houdini, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is easy to see from this list how immigrants have changed the face of the United States.
The citizens of the United States became very concerned in the early 1920s about the number of people that were immigrating to the United States. In 1924 the United States Congress passed the National Origins Act of 1924. In this act, the number of immigrants from each country was firmly established. The main purpose of this law was to stem the flow of Italians to the United States. Almost 200,000 Italians were coming to the United States yearly, but the new law allowed for only 5,802 immigrants yearly. By limiting the number of Italians the United States hoped to improve conditions in New York City, where most of these immigrants settled. Organized crime was becoming a problem among these immigrants who had been farmers in Italy. The trade unions did not welcome these immigrants who they feared would work for lower wages.
Think About It
"All the problems we face in the United States today can be traced to an unenlightened immigration policy on the part of the American Indian." ~Pat Paulsen
"It is also important to know that we're not only a nation of immigrants, but we are in some part a nation of emigrants, which often gets neglected." ~Samuel P. Huntington
"Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt