Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/561

* IMMIGRATION. 487 IMMIGRATION. studied in their fullest development. Records of inimi<;ration to tlie United [states begin in 1820. I'or the period before that time the chief sources of information as to immigration are the fre- <iuent newspaper allusions to the arrival of ves- sels bringing immigrants, of whom a certain number were 'foreigners,' i.e. those who spoke a language other tlian English. The record of ar- rivals since 1820 is shown in accompanying table. In long periods the increa.se is marked, but year by year the fluctuation is considerable. It hiirrors the economic conditions at home and abroad. Thus the panic of 1837 is reflected in the decline of immigration from 79..'!40 in that year to 38,!I14 in 18.'i8. The wholesale emigra- tion from Ireland after the potato famine is reflected in the rise of our immigration from l.'54,41C in 1846 to 234,908 in 1847, and before this influence and that of the political disturb- ances in Kurope was spent came the discovery of gold and the rush to the mines, which cul- minated in an immigration of 427,833 in 1854, a figure not reached again until nearly twenty years later, .fter that year immigration fell off slightly, and received a sudden check after the panic of 1857, when it was reduced from 246.945 in 1857 to 119.501 in 1858. The year 1860 .showed symptoms of a rising tide, but this was checked by the outbreak of the Civil War. The prosperous times which followed the close of the war increased immigration until, in 1873, it reached a figure of 459.803, higher than in 1854. Again economic distress brought a falling ofT, and in 1878 it was not more than 138.469. But the .symptoms of returning prosperity in the early eighties reacted powerfully upon the vol- imie of immigration, which in 1882 reached the enormous total of 788 992. By 18SG immigra- tion had fallen to 334,203, but it soon recovered and maintained hish figures until 1893. In the following year it dropped to 285,631, and reached its lowest point in recent years in 1898. when it was 229,299, but again there has been a rapid recovery, and in 1902 the total of 648.743 is exceeded by only two previous years, 1881 and 1882. Influenced by temporary causes, as we have seen, the progress of immigration has been gen- erally forward, with setbacks, apparently tem- porary, only in the decades 1860-70 and 1890- 1900. In estimating the force of immigration it is well to take into account the concurrent growth of the population. The following table brings out the facts: Nu.MBEn OF Immigran'ts .Arriving in the United States Each Year from 1820 to 1902 Populafioa Immi- grants Tmmigrant.s in DECADE at begin- ning 10 years per 1000 of initial population 1S21-1830 9.633..S22 143.439 15 l,S.'il-1840 12.866.020 599.125 47 1S41-1850 17.069.453 1.713.251 100 1S51-1860 23.101.876 2, .598.214 110 lSr.l-lS70 31,443.321 2.314.824 73 1S71-1880 38.,5.58.371 2.812.191 73 1S,S1-1S90 50.155.783 5.246.616 104 1891-1900 62.622,250 3,844,420 61 It appears in this table that the greatest relative immigration has been in the ten years ending 1860, closely followed by the decade 1881-00, and it is to be noted that in each of these periods the agitaticm against the policy of unrestricted immigration was widespread. PERIOD Immi- grants Year ending September 30 — 1820 8.385 9,127 6,911 6,354 7.912 10.199 10,837 18.875 27.382 22.520 23,322 22,633 60,482 58.640 65,365 45.374 76.242 79.340 38.914 68.069 84.066 80.289 104.565 52,496 78.615 114.371 154.416 234.968 226.527 297.024 310.004 59,976 379.466 371.603 1821 1822 1823 1824 1825 1S26 1S27 1828 1829 1830 1831. : October 1, 1831, to December 31. 1832 Year ending December 31 — 1833. 1834 1835 1836 1837 1838. 1839. 1840 1841 1842 January 1 to September 30, 1843 Y'ear ending September 30 — 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 18.50 _ Oct ->her 1 to Decemher .11. 1850 Year ending December 31 — 1851 1852 1853 1854 1855 OQO 877 1856 uarv 1 to June .30. 1857 112 123 Y'ear ending June 30 — 1858 191.942 18.59 129.571 1800 133 143 1861 142,877 1862 72,183 1863 132.925 1864 191 114 1865 180 .3,39 1866 332 577 1807 303.104 1868 2.S2 189 1869 352.783 1870 387 ''60 1871 321.350 1872 404 806 1873 459.803 1874 313 339 1875 227.498 1876 169.986 1877 141.8.57 1878 138.469 1879 177.826 1880 457.2.57 1881 669.431 1882 788.992 1883 603 3'>*> 1884 518.592 1885 395.346 1886 334.203 1S87 490.109 1888 546.SS9 1889 444 427 1890 455.302 1891 560 319 1892 479,663 1893 439 730 1894 285,631 1895 258 536 1896 343,267 1897 230 832 1898 229,299 1899 311,715 1900 448.572 1901 487 918 1902 648 743