Name _______________________
Mr. Doherty / Mrs. T
Date ____________
Social Studies -____
In the 1840s and 1850s, about 4 million immigrants arrived in the United
States. More than 1.8 million newcomers arrived from England and Ireland alone
in just a 10 year span. Their immigration was part of a period often referred to as
“Old Immigration.”
The Old Immigration group came mainly from many parts of the world but
mainly from Northern and Western Europe. Why did such a large number of
immigrants come to America particularly after 1845? The reasons are many and
varied. Most of the Irish came for the simple reason that they were starving. The
case of the Irish was a particularly sad one. A disastrous blight (plant disease) in
1845 wiped out this staple crop and resulted in almost a million peasants starving
to death. Ireland’s poor were reduced to stealing or eating grass just to stay alive.
It was a common sight to see people dying in the streets with a green discharge
from eating grass oozing out of their mouth.
Many Germans immigrated to escape political persecution and in England
the Industrial Revolution and its machines had put skilled craftsman out of work
causing many of them to book passage for the New World. Most immigrants,
however, came to America hoping for a better life. Anything, they reasoned,
would be preferable to what they were leaving behind in Europe.
Many immigrants were lured in by attractive wall posters and newspaper
advertisements paid for by railroad companies and steamship lines. America was
pictured as the land of opportunity—a land where all people were equal and those
willing to work hard would succeed beyond their wildest dreams. Regardless of
why they made the move, many immigrants were treated with prejudice when they
arrived to America. People in America often tried to take advantage of
immigrants.