6 New Americans
At the beginning of the nineteenth
century most American families had
come from Britain, Germany and
Scandinavia, and they were farmers
or businesspeople. But soon that
began to change.
Factories were built and cities
grew; poor people arrived from other
countries, hoping to find work.
Between 1840 and the end of the
century, about five million people
Chinatown, San Francisco
came from Ireland alone. Another
five million immigrants came from
Italy, and millions more from Russia,
Poland and other countries of Eastern
Europe, hoping to find jobs and
freedom. America kept an 'open
door' until 1924 and about 27
million people arrived between 1880
and 1930. They were often poor, had
different religions, and had not been
to school for very long; there was a
lot of prejudice against them.
The Chinese immigrants in the
West also met with prejudice. Many
people came to live in California after
gold was found there in 1848, and
among them were 300,000 Chinese.
Many of the Chinese stayed to work building the new railways. Like black
people and Native Americans, the
Chinese had no civil rights and after
1882, they were no longer allowed to
enter the USA.
The Irish, Italians and Eastern
Europeans usually stayed in the big
cities of the East or the Mid-West,
like New York, Boston or Chicago,
and worked in the factories.
Although most of them learned
English and became Americans, they
also wanted to keep their own way of
life. So in many cities you can find
places known as Little Italy or
Chinatown, where the restaurants
have Italian or Chinese food. This is
all part of what makes America an
interesting and exciting country.
USA facts
• Immigrants from Europe arrived
at Ellis Island in New York,
where they were checked for
illness and other problems.
They were welcomed by the
Statue of Liberty, which was
given by France to America in
1886. On it are written these
words:
'Give me your tired, your poor .. .'
• Today, the biggest number of
immigrants to the USA come
from Spanish-speaking countries
such as Mexico and Puerto Rico.
More than six million have arrived
since 1980 and Spanish has
become the second language of
the United States.