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Early Immigration
After the New World was discovered by Europeans, people from all over northwestern Europe sailed across the Atlantic to settle in North America. The dangerous trip took many weeks. Most early immigrants were from England, but they also came from Scotand, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and France. However, not everyone came to America's shores by choice. During the early years slave traders brought thousands of Africans to America as slaves. -
Mid-1800s
After the discovery of gold in California in 1849, people from all over the world came to take part in the Gold Rush. Many Chinese also moved to the west coast at this time. They helped buld the Transcontinental Railroad across America. Between 1945-1948, over a million Irish people came to America. They left Ireland because the potato crops failed, and there was not enough food. Many Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day on March 17 to honor their Irish background. -
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Late 1800s-1920s
40 million immigrants came from countries in Southern and Eastern Europe. This is the biggest movement of people recorded in history. Italians, Poles, Hungarians, Russians and other arrived in record numbers, and most settled in big cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago. This was also the period thousands of Scandinavians left for America. Many Norwegians settled on famrs in Minnesota and Wisconsin in the Midwest. -
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1960s-Now
Since the 1960s immigration has been on the rise again, Most new immigrants are from Asia and Latin American countries. After English, Spanish is not the most widely-spoken language in America. Today thousands of immigrants come to America illegally. This issue creates a lot of debate. Large parts of the US-Mexico border are now closed with a security fence to prevent people from crossing.