Essay On Immigration In The Late 19th Century

The late nineteenth century was a period of change in the United States. Following the Civil war, there were new ideals forming and the reconstruction period brought changes to the society. This was also a time of industrialization and new economic opportunities, with new railroads being built, new immigrants coming in and a new American identity forming. All these changes had a great impact on the new immigrants, both positive and negative. Although the industrial revolution and the rise of diversity in the US population did not create a turning point in ethnic and racial segregation, they created big changes in the economy and immigration of Chinese immigrants in the United States in the late nineteenth century.

By the end of the nineteenth

This act restricted the rights of Chinese immigrants within the United States and restricted further entrance of immigrants to the United States. People had to have special certificated to cross the border, and couldn’t live like higher class citizens in the United States. This phenomenon started well before this. For many years prior to this act being passed, ethnic groups have been segregated in the United States. Going back to1798, there were also laws passed to restrict immigrants' entrance to the United States. One of them being the Alien Acts. These laws were very similar to the Chinese Exclusion Act because they made it harder for new immigrants to come in and restricted the rights of immigrants who already lived in the United States by making it harder for them to become US citizens. Another example of this was the segregation of the Irish and German immigrants. Starting in the 1840’s, when the new immigrants from Germany and Ireland arrived in the United States, they were divided from society. Because of this they formed ethnic enclaves and built their own societies. There were

Following the year 1865, and the end of the Cold War, the country was going through major changes. One of them being economic changes. This time period was known as the Industrial Revolution in the United States. One of the big parts of the Industrial Revolution was the creation of factories and the shift of jobs from farms to factories. The new factory systems required big numbers of unskilled, low wage laborers, which created new job opportunities for immigrants and other low class citizens. This was a big change because before this people believed that immigrants took away job opportunities for Americans but now the country needed those immigrants to keep up with its rising economy. Another big part of this revolution were the transcontinental railroads. In 1862, the Pacific Railway Act was passed. The document stated that it was “An Act To aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes'' . This act established new economic opportunities in the United States both directly and indirectly by creating a huge demand for labor. The building of the railroads increased the need for cheap labor which was mostly done by the new immigrants. This was done because many times new immigrants were being paid with land instead of