First Waves

When the first U.S. Census was conducted in 1790, there were about 3.9 million people living in the newly independent United States. Of these, roughly 3.1 million were of European descent, and the overwhelming majority were of British ancestry. Germans formed the largest non-British group of European descent, and in Pennsylvania they were so numerous that they outnumbered all other groups, including the English.^[1]

In addition to people of European descent, the census counted enslaved and free people of African descent. In 1790, enslaved Blacks numbered more than 700,000, while free Blacks numbered nearly 60,000.^[2] Taken together, the enslaved population alone was on the same order of magnitude as the largest immigrant groups of the period, including Germans. (Indigenous peoples were largely excluded, as the Constitution called only for the counting of “free Persons” and excluded “Indians not taxed.”)

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Although immigration and naturalization received relatively little attention during the founding era, most leaders of the early republic understood that immigration would be necessary for the country’s growth.^[3] At the same time, the nation’s first naturalization law revealed clear racial boundaries. The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited citizenship to “free white person[s] … of good character” who had resided in the United States for at least two years.^[4] The law privileged Europeans while excluding free Blacks, Indigenous peoples, and eventually Asians from eligibility for citizenship.

From the beginning, Americans also disagreed about immigration itself. Some founders worried that immigrants raised under monarchies might not easily embrace republican government or transfer their loyalties to the United States. Others argued that immigrants who voluntarily chose to settle in the new nation had already demonstrated commitment to its ideals. Nevertheless, debates over immigration and naturalization remained largely controlled by the native-born Anglo-American elite, and Congress repeatedly revised naturalization laws during the 1790s before settling on a five-year residency requirement in 1802.^[5]

Migration to the United States remained relatively light during the first decades after the American Revolution. Immigration only began increasing significantly after 1815, when the Irish initiated what would become a century-long era of mass migration to the United States. German immigration also surged beginning in the 1830s, while Chinese immigrants began arriving in California in significant numbers after 1848. Together, these groups became associated with what later came to be called the “old immigration.”

For decades, Irish and German immigrants outnumbered most other groups, but by the late 19th century new waves of immigrants began arriving from southern and eastern Europe as well as the Middle East. In this section, we focus on three groups representative of these early immigration waves: the Germans, the Irish, and the Chinese.^[6]

We begin with the Germans, who not only formed a major part of the old immigration but also made important contributions during the colonial era. Next, we turn to the Irish, whose migration accelerated dramatically during the early 19th century. Finally, we conclude Part II with the story of the Chinese, whose experiences reveal both the opportunities and the exclusions that shaped immigrant life in 19th-century America.