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THE CAUSES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATESThe Causes of Earlier European Immigration to the United States Author(s): Thomas Walker Page Source: Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 19, No. 8 (Oct., 1911), pp. 676-693 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: The Causes of Earlier European Immigration to the United States All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTORTHE CAUSES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION TO THE UNITED STATESThe history of iimmigration to the United States since official statistics began to be kept may be divided into two periods. Though it is impossible-and, indeed, unnecessary- to draw the line between them in any particular year, yet the decade I870 to i88o saw the end of one and the beginning of the other. The two periods differ from each other in the volume of immigration, in the races mainly contributing to it, in the attitude of the American government and public opinion toward it, in the conditions of transportation, and in the causes that pro- moted it. It would be impossible to enumerate all the causes that induce men to leave old homes for new. Sometimes it is a mere spirit of adventure, a love of change. Very often the reasons are per- sonal; sometimes they are involved and complicated, and how- ever strongly felt, are but vaguely understood even by those that move under their influence. Whatever weakens the ties of home-bereavement, altered surroundings, domestic infelicity, social or political disappointment, economic difficulties, in short, any one of many things that may darken the current of life- urges men to a change of habitation. At the present day when the means of transportation have become cheap, quick, and se- cure the motives for emigration need not be so strong as was necessary to induce men to leave Europe for America in the first three-quarters of the nineteenth century. The general causes for immigration during the period from 1820 to about I875 naturally fall into two groups: those that repelled from the mother country and those that attracted to the United States. In studying the first group it is mainly the influ- ences operating in Germany, Scandinavia, and the United King- dom that need detain us, for during that period they contributed the overwhelming majority of the immigrants to this country. The relatively small numbers that came from the other nations 676 This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR CAUSES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION 677 of Europe usually left their homes for personal reasons or for reasons that were temporary and very limited in the range of their influence. Political and religious discontent, prominent among the causes of emigration in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, did not cease to operate during the nineteenth. In South Ger- many it strongly influenced the renewal of emigration after the Napoleonic wars.' During the following decade thousands were driven fronm Wurtemnburg, Hesse, and the Palatinate by dissatis- faction with the system of taxation and the forest laws.2 In Mecklenburg, where the condition of the peasants was little bet- ter than serfdom, the dim prospect of political reform and of improvement in their civil and sociial position induced them to lend a willing ear to the blandishments of the emigration agents, and the men from that region formed one of the strongest ele- ments of German emigration in the thirties.3 From England emigration for political reasons was at no time great in the nine- teenth century, and ceased altogether after the passage of the Reform Bill; whereas the revolutionary movement of 1830, which was suppressed with a heavy hand in various German states, was followed by the departure of large numbers of people, particularly in the years 1834 to 1837, when the reaction was most extreme and political oppression harshest.4 In the early forties the changes in the established church of Prussia drove many of the Old Lutherans to America;5 while at a later date the rigor of the law in Sweden against those that abandoned Lutheranism was responsible for a part of the emigration from that country.6 In the late forties political causes account for the emigration of a comparatively small, but interesting and thrifty, body of Hollanders to Iowa and to Grand Rapids, Mich. The failure of the attempts at revolution in Germany in 1848 I Lehmann, Die deuttsche Auswanderung, p. 22. 2Brauns, Amerika und die moderne Volkerwantderuntg, p. 265. 3Lehmann, op. cit., p. ioi. 4Ibid., p. 8i. -'Niles' Register, LXII, 256. 6 Chandeze, De l'intervention des pouvoirs publics dans 'emigratio;e, etc., P. 54. 7 Niles' Registcr, LXXIII, 48, i6 i. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR 678 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY and Napoleon's coutp d'etat in I85I ended for a time the struggle in Europe against monarchical institutions, and the following years witnessed a great increase in the volume of emigration. During the whole period the Irish Catholics were suffering all the disabilities of a conquered race, subject to foreign land pro- prietors and harassed by the upholders of a foreign religion;8 and the agitation of religious and political leaders strongly com- bined with econom'ic causes to promote their departure for America.9 Toward the enld of the period the political results of the Prussian wars against Denmark and Austria, and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to the German empire, all con- tributed to swell the number of political emigrants to the United States. Strong, however, as was the influence of religious and political discontent, a much greater importance attaches to the economic motives for European emigration. During a large part of the nineteenth century the lower classes of the population in Ireland and in many of the German states were living continually on the verge of starvation. Bad governments, pernicious legislation, the survival of mediaeval institutions, the unawakened energy of the people, their igno- rance of modern methods of production, and their lack of the material means necessary to learn and to apply them had reduced the laboring classes to a condition that vividly illustrated the principles underlying the theory then current of an "iron laxv of wages." A long period of peace, a succession of good harvests, a reduction in the cost of the necessities of life, were quickly followed by an increase in population; and the "standard of living" remained so near the "minimum of existence" that a serious business depressionl or a few years of poor crops brought acute suffering and even famine. Thus the destruction of the crops by an overflow of the Rhine in I825 in the duchy of Baden reduced scores of families to such misery that they were forced to emigrate to escape starvation.10 In the following year the scarcity of food in Ireland approached famine conditions, 8 Spectator, October i 8, I 85 I . 9 London Morning Chronicle, Novernber 12, i850. 3 Brauns, op. cit., p. 282. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR CAUSES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN I.MMIGRATION 679 and accounts for the first great wave of Irish emigration to America. The results of the potato rot in that country in I846 anid 1847 are notorious. We have the authority of Francis Lieber for the statement that at that time the suffering in Ger- many from the same cause was xvell-nigch as great as in Ireland.1 The misery of those years showed the depressed state of the people in both countries and the narrow margin by which they were separated from starvation. The contemporary English press deplored the condition o( the Irish people that was revealed by the famine and attributed it to a lack of capital for developing the resources of the country and giving employment to the workers.12 A writer in the Edinburgh Reviewe} in I85I says that the same lack of capital and of an active and energetic middle class to stimulate industry and employ labor, which caused the Irish to emigrate, existed in Germany, and was attended by the same result. In the generation of peace, he continues, following the overthrow of Napoleon, there was a disproportion between the birth-rate and the increase in the production of wealth, and both countries suffered the evils attributable to overpopulation. This is a naive statement of actual facts. But it does not tell the whole truth; for during the generation it refers to we had been receiving a large immigration from England, the home of capital and the leading industrial nation of the world; a nation, at the same time, wvhere urban squalor, factory riots, and widespread destitution, and the excessive rates of taxation for poor-relief, revealed in exaggerated form many of the evils attributed in the other countries to overpopulation. The truth is that in all three coun- tries these evils were due in larger measure to the unequable, inot to say inequitable, distribution of the national product than to the inadequacy of that product to support a growing popula- tion. When legislation is so shaped or industry is so organized that a small class gets possession of the lion's share of the wealth )roduced, it makes little difference whether capital is abundant or not, and whether the national resources are fully developed N' Niles' Register, LXII, 392. 12 See London Mornting Chronicle, November I2, I850; London Times, September 24, and October 23, I85I; Spectator, October i8, I85I, etc. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR 68o JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY or not: the result to those that do not share the product will be the same. This was the situation in England in the first few generations of her industrial expansion, when enterprise was unregulated and the exploitation of laborers unchecked. It was likewise the situation in Ireland and Germany, where, in addition to the fact that comnmerce and industry were backward, the agri- cultural producers were deprived by still surviving mediaeval institutions of the greater part of the fruits of their toil. Except in Ireland and perhaps in Scandinavia, where the climate is hard and the land is poor, there is no country in Europe where during the nineteenth century the growth of wealth did not keep pace with the growth of population.13 But in the first half of the century the increase of product did not accrue in favorable pro- portion to the interest of the different classes of the people. A comparison of conditions in Germany and Great Britain with that then prevailing in France will perhaps show the truth more clearly. The question as to why French emigration has been small throughout the nineteenth century is still commonly regarded as unsettled. Some peculiarity of French character; anl unparalleled love of honme and country; the influence of the Civil Code and especially of the provision for an equal division of land among heirs; the fact that the absolute necessities of life may be obtained without great difficulty, have been sug- gested in explanation by various writers. Doubtless all these things have been of influence. But the full and sufficient ex- planation should include a statement of the absence of the eco- nomic motive for emigration that was so strongly felt lin the other countries mentioned above. For nowhere was political and re- ligious disconltent stronger than in France at various epochs dur- ing the nineteenth century; lher natural resources were not greater, nlor her people more willing to labor, than those of southern Germany, and in I847 she suffered a scarcity almost as great as that of her neighbors ;14 she enjoyed neither the industrial de- velopment nor the accumulation of capital possessed by England. But the passing of the old regime had left a clear field and almost 13 Cf. Chandeze, op. cit., p. 54; and Philippovich, in Handworterbuch der Stoatswissenchaften, II 72. N4 iles' Register, LXII, 64. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR CA USES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION 68i equal opportunity for men of all classes; the "legitimate" mon- archy with its attempts at reaction was an anachronism soon abol- ished; the bitrgeoisie on its accessioin to power did not succeed in establishing perma.nent legal institutions and methods of busi- ness organization for the exploita.tion of other classes; the national product, therefore, though destined long to remain snmaller in proportion to population than that of England, was so distributed as to cause no serious discontent. In consequence the French did not seek some other land of fairer economic promise. They realized, however, that the standard of living depended under normal conditions of wealth-distribution on the ratio of population to production, and they learned how to keep this ratio favorable. Indeed, they learned the lesson all too well. Small families, wvhich seem in the first ha.lf of the nineteenth century to have been a necessary alterna.tive to emigration, if the standard of living was to be preserved, having once obtained the sanction of public opinion and become a social custom, did not give place to large families when the growth of industry and commerce made it possible for France to support a much larger population. The situation that has developed from this fact is interesting and important, but it does not concern us here. The naive ascription of emigrationi from Europe to over- population won additional plausibility from the fact that the movement was strong in time of industrial depression, as in England in I826, and diminished with industrial expansion and business prosperity or any increase in the field of employment for labor. Tlhus in Great Britain the falling off in emigration to America after I854 was attributed to the demand for men to serve in the army and navy during the Russian War and the Indian Mutiny.15 That this was not the full explanation became clear when the movement was not resumed in its former strength after the wars were over. The truth is that the expansion of industry, the construction of railroads, the repeal of the Corn Laws, the new system of poor-relief, the revolution in tariff policy, the growth of parliamentary regulation of industry, the constitutional changes begun by the passage of the Reform Bill, '5 Eighth U.S. Census, "Population," p. xxv. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR 682 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY combined with other things to destroy the ancient privileges of certain classes and to afford a more nearly equal opportunity to all. Although the loss of privilege and special favor left a part of the protected classes helpless or discontented, and forced some of them to depart for America, as was the case with a consider- able number of farmers on the repeal of the Corn Laws,16 yet these were few in comparison with those lof other classes who were benefited by the reformns, and with whom the economic motive for emigration was removed. While such influences were working to promote emigration from Europe, a second group of causes, the counterpart in the main of those operating abroad, was drawing men to the United States. Nowhere else did religious and civil freedom, accessi- bility, political security, and economic opportunity prevail to the same degree as in this country; and nowhere else were public opinion and government agencies more favorable to the coming of nlew settlers and more consistent and active in promnoting it. During the nineteenth century the absolute equality of all religions before the law was never in danger. It is true that for about a decade the Know Nothing movement, which in- volved a virulent agitation against the Roiman Catholics, revealed that a portion of the American people cherished strong religious prejudices; but the movement was short-lived and futile, and the r-eal motives of the great majority that took part in it were con- nected rather with local and party politics than with religion. The effect on religious life of the equal protection afforded by the laws of the land alike to unbelievers and to believers of all shades of opinion is not open to discussion in this connection. Suffice it to say that foreigners who took advantage of it had no cause to complain regarding its effectiveness; and that these wvrere not few in number has been indicated above. The ideals of political refugees were not so generally realized as were those of men who came for the sake of religion or for economic opportunity. Civil equality and political liberty were not widely understood on the continent of Europe two genera- tions ago, and few foreigners knew the real nature of American 16 Niles' Register, LXII, 400; LXX, 288. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR CAUSES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION 683 institutions and government. Many supposed that utopian schemes and arcadian conditions that were impossible of realiza- tion anywhere were already securely established in this free republic. They saw in America a land where their ideals could be and would be realized, and they outrivaled Americans in their laudation of republican institutions. By such men conditions and institutions in America were idealized and their perfection greatly overrated. Even in England there were families in which one generation transmitted to another admiration for the vigorous republic that had achieved its independence by force of arms, and had insured civil liberty by its written constitution ;1T and they read into the history and laws of this country much that existed only in their own imagination. But it was particu- larly in Germany that members of the educated classes were wont to view American institutions through the medium of their emotions, whereas when they came to America they were forced to view them through the medium of the intelligence; and the re- sulting disappearance of the rose-colored halo fancy had placed around them led to bitter disappointment. It came to be said, therefore, that many vainly sought America in America.'8 In Europe such men would not believe true accounts when made to them, and on reaching America they complained that true ac- counts had not been given. Disappointment frequently brought on a natural reaction; and undue admiration was changed to un- reasoning dislike. Hence arose a common saying that if one is not contented with his native land he should be sent to America to be cured.19 Among the educated immigrants were many idealists and political dreamers, who came to America with groundless expectations. Some of them, as was the case with a few German students whose zeal outstripped their discretion in the revolutions of 1830 and 1848, ultimately became good citi- zens; but many of this class deteriorated, and were unable to adapt themnselves to American life.20 Others were wholly unde- I' Fidler, Observations on Professions, Literature, Manners, and Emigration in the United States, etc., pp. 4 ff. "Buichele, Land untd Volk der Vereinigten Staaten, etc., p. 404. igIbid., p. 405; Fidler, passim. " Straten-Ponthoz, Forschungen uiber die Lage der Auswanderer in den Vereinigten Slaaten, etc., p. 5I. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR 684 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY sirable. The Germans in America suffered as a race from the outrageous doctrines promulgated by a few theorists amnong them.21 Many of the German newspapers in this country were edited by political refugees and visionaries, who filled them with extravagant, vile, or senseless doctrines about freedom, religion, and morality.22 Dr. C. Biichele, who traveled in the United States in the early fifties, found that the best men among the political refugees of 1848 and 1849 had quickly wvithdrawn into themselves, leavin, the field to "screamers and gabblers," who brought all German immigrants into disrepute.23 Fanatics also and political criminals sought in the United States not only escape from punishment, but even honor for deeds that, though done in the name of liberty, were as shocking to Americans as to Euro- peans. In the summer of 1849 some thirty or forty different men came to New York, each claiming to have been the principal actor in the murder of Lichnowsky and Auerswald !24 Meunier and Quesnisset, who were condemned for attempted regicide in France, escaped to Newv Orleans. Quesnisse!t was actually natu- ralized, and voted in the presidential election of 1844.25 A type of the incorrigible political agitator was a certain Heiinzen, who effected his escape to New York after the Revolution of 1848. After martyring three struggling newspapers there with hiis anarchistic lucubrations, he was reduced to keeping a beershop; and as he could no longer get his distorted fancies printed, he laid them before his customers in manuscript.26 The successful career achieved by a few illustrious individuals among the politi- cal refugees has obscured the fact that very many among this class were helpless and unfit for life in the Newv World. There were among them some that were able after a period of disap- pointment and hardship to adapt themiselves to their environi- ment and to contribute to the growth of American civilization. Especially their children, with inheritance and traditions of cul- ture and refinement, formed an interesting and useful element Straten-Ponthoz, op. cit., p. 5I. 22 Biichele, Land und Volk der Vereinigten Staaten, pp. 176, 339. 23 Ibid., p. 278. 24 Ibid., p. 570. 25 34th Cong., ist sess., House Report 359, p. I35. 26 Buchele, op. cit., p. 339. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR CAUSES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION 685 of the American people. But few of the first generation were able to overcome a longing for their native land that made them hypercritical of the country that received them; still fewer were masters of a trade or able to do manual labor.27 Destitute, dis- illusioned, and hopeless, they sent back reports of conditions in America that (leterred from comning hither worthier members of the class to which they had once belonged. The impression they gave was reflected by Heine: Manchmal kommt mir in den Sinn Nach Amerika zu fahren, Nach dem grossen Freiheitsstall Der bewohnt von Gleichheits Flegeln. Doch es angstigt mich ein Land Wo die Menschen Tabak kauen, Wo sie ohne K6nig kegeln, Wo sie ohne Spucknapf speien. While it is impossible to know even approximately how many persons sought a home in America for political reasons, it is safe to say that they were few as compared w,ith the multitude that was attracted by the prospect of economic advantages.28 The ease of getting land; the freedom of internal trade, industry, and intercourse; low taxes; the absence of a standing army; do- mestic and foreign peace; the certainty of constant employment for such as were able to labor; and the guaranty of equal civil rights to all, afforded opportunities that were to be found in no other country. To the masses of the people of Europe these advan- tages were summed up in the phrase, "cheap land and dear labor."29 Tales of virgin solil in untold millions of acres that might be owned for a nominal price appealed as nothing else could do to peasants that eked out a narrow living on small holdings which produced little more than rent and taxes. Baron von Straten- Ponthoz, first secretary of the Belgian Legation in 1844, in his book on immigration, expressed the universal opinioin of con- temporaries that cheap and fertile land was the chief cause of 2 Jorg, Briefe aus America, pp. 5 ff; Straten-Ponthoz, op. cit., p. 5I. 28 Straten-Ponthoz, op. cit., p. 38. 29 Frobel, Die deutsche Auswanderung, p. 46. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR 686 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY European emigration to America, and that stricter provisions for disposing of the public domain would quickly stem the tide.30 In the clearness of its provisions, the mathematical exactness of its surveys, the security of title, and the low purchase price, the United States land system was without parallel in history.3' To Germans, Norwegians, and British, cheap land held out a strong inducement to emigrate. With the Irish it was different: ex- perience with the impoverishing potato patch and a system of agriculture that exhibited the direst extreme of squalor and in- competence combined with other causes to turn them away from land and tillage. For all working people, however, even if they were unwilling to go into agriculture, America was the land of promise. In- dustry and commerce were expanding at a rate hitherto unknown in the history of the modern world. The consequent demand for labor was out of all proportion to the supply of it. Alexander Hamilton's report in 179I had predicted as to labor for our manufactures that "we should trade upon a foreign stock." This foreign stock was eagerly sought in subsequent generations, not only for manufactures but for all forms of productive work. Furthermore, foreign workmen were needed not merely as la- borers but also as teachers and guides in many branches of in- dustry that Americans did not know how to prosecute. Thus German lockmakers, imported for the purpose to New Britain, Conn., taught the workmen there better methods and processes.32 Englishmen from Sheffield and Birmingham were brought over to render a like service to the industries of Meriden, Conn.; as also were other foreigners to Steelton, Penn. ;33 and similar in- stances might be adduced in large number. Nearly half of the grown men who reached this country before 1870 were skilled workers of some sort,34 and they commanded high wages and ready employment. This was not altogether due to their pos- session of technical skill, however, unless they came as teachers 30 Straten-Ponthoz, op. cit., p. 39. 3I Lehmann, Die deutsche Auswanderung, p. 79. 32 Immigration Commission, Community Report on New Britain, MS, p. 27. 33 Ibid., Steelton Report, MS, p. 99. 34 Young, Special Report on Immigration, I871, p. Vii. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR CAUSES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION 687 of some craft not yet developed here, but in at least equal degree to the general ability that the possession of skill implied. For the European artisan usually found that in America he had to learn his trade over aggain.35 The methods and processes ap- plied in this country, and especially the rate of working, were very different from what he had become familiar w,ith at home.35 The simple old-world tools, the slow and painstaking methods that sought to give perfection iof detail and permanence of re- sult, were out of place in a land where work was rushed to a "rough and ready" completion with a hurry and strain at which the European stood aghast. Many foreign mechanics who pros- pered here were forced to admit that if they had wojrked as hard and denied themselves as much at home as they were forced to do in America they would have been as well off where they came froM.37 It often happened that a trade learned in Europe could not be practiced here, for special knowledge and technical skill were not so important as a sound, quick, adaptable, and de- termined body and mind.38 But the immigrant who possessed these qualities, though he belonged to the great class of common laborers on his arrival, not only found rough work well paid, but soon picked up a sufficient knowledge of some trade to raise himself in the industrial scale. Such was the case with many of the Irish in the New England cotton mills,39 with the great majority of the foreign-born miners in the Pennsylvania anthra- cite-coal fields,40 and with many others that might be mentioned. It was this that made America the land of hope for the toiling masses of the Old World. Men that came and prospered wrote back for their friends and kindred, and their letters were the most important and successful of all forms of immigration propaganda. Their persuasion was seconded by native land- owners and employers of labor, by the transportation companies, and by the state governments. Especially in the Northwest it was common for the states to make special appropriations to 35 Immigration Commission, Meriden Report, MS. (Not paginated.) 3 Frobel, op. cit., p. g. 37 Buchele, op. cit., p. 409. 38 Frobel, op. cit., pp. I 5 ff. 39 Miss Abbott, in Journal of Political Economy, XVI, passim. 40 Immigration Commission, Community Report on Shenandoah, Penn., MS, p. 75. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR 688 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY foster immigration, to provide for advertising in Europe the advantages they had to offer, and in various ways to assist and encourage foreign settlers. Nor did the federal government fail to share in these fostering activities. Except for a brief time during the administration of John Adams, its attitude fromn its creation till i868 was distinctly favorable to immigration. Here and there during the first gen- eration of the republic a prominent man was found who spoke in general terms of the dangers that might arise from the indis- criminate admission of foreigners to citizenship. Jefferson, for example, in h,is Notes on Virginia, questioned the expediency of encouraging a large accession of alien settlers, on the ground that they would bring with them the principles of absolute mon- archies, and would introduce into our simple communities the practices of "unbounded licentiousness." But such views had little or no effect on American legislation. The First Congress fixed the term of residence required for naturalization at only two years. It was extended to five years in 1795; and three years later the agitation arising out of our political relations with England and France brought about the enactment of the Alien and Sedition Laws, in connection with which the term of resi- dence for naturalization was still further extended to fourteen years. In 1802, however, on the recommendation of Jefferson himself, Congress again fixed the term at five years, where it was destined to remain. In addition to requiring a short dura- tion of residence the law facilitated the acquisition of citizenship by prescribing a quick and easy procedure for acquiring naturali- zation papers. Any court having a seal could issue the papers, and in some courts the only real requisite came to be the pay- n-ment of a small fee. The applicant's claim that he had been five years in the country had to be confirmed by witnesses, but nmany men lived by swearing, for a small payment, to any appli- cant's statement with regard to his length of residence. Some courts accepted the oath of any person who was present, so that, mild as they were, the provisions of the law were practically unenforced. The Marine Court of New York was a notorious offender in this field, and on the days preceding an election it This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR CA USES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION 689 was sometimes surrounded by crowds of aliens so large that many could not secure admission. It was generally believed that fully one-sixth of those naturalized previous to the election of I836 obtained their papers by fraud.42 It was about this time that the "Native American" movement began, which was followed by the organization of the Know Nothing party. In 1838 Congress received memorials from New York City, Boston, and sundry counties and towns in New York and Massachusetts, where immigrants were beginning to play a part in local politics, praying for an extension of the time for naturalization and greater stringency in enforcing the law; but nothing came of it all, beyond the appointment of a committee to investigate con- ditions. Danger from the admission of aliens to the full rights of citizenship seemed remote, and any measure was deprecated that would discourage their coming. During the following twenty years, before all important elections candidates were ex- pected to declare their opinions in regard to granting the suf- frage to men of foreign birth, but there was no desire in any quarter to impose real restrictions on immigration except such as would exclude criminals and paupers. Efforts of the national government to exclude even undesir- able persons were half-hearted and ineffective; while on the other hand our ministers abroad were time and again empowered and instructed to try through negotiations to remove the ob- stacles to immigration that were imposed by the legislation of certain countries of Europe.43 Indeed, it was gravely doubted until nearly the end of the period whether Congress had the power to regulate immigration. A long discussion of this ques- tion with no convincing conclusion was presented in the report of a House committee of the Thirty-fourth Congress. The de- cisions of important courts were conflicting; and public opinion, as well as political leaders, were willing to leave the matter in abeyance. In I856 Senator Adams of Mississippi introduced a bill to prohibit ship captains from bringing to this country any alien " 25th Cong., 2d sess., House Report 1040, pp. 114 ff. 42 Ibid., p. Io6. " Niles' Register, LXV, p. 265. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR 690 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY that did not have a certificate of good character from the United States consul; to restrict the suffrage to such as had been here for twenty-one years; and to limit to the circuit or district courts of the United States the granting of naturalization papers. The bill was referred to the Committee on Judiciary, who re- ported it with the recommendation that it be not passed. Adams' speech in favor of it was listened to with scant toleration, and it was defeated without discussion.44 A departure was taken from this passively favorable treatment of immigration in I864. In that year Senator Sherman, of the Committee on Agriculture, brought in a bill of a very different tenor. Like the Adams Bill it called out very little discussion, but unlike the Adams Bill it was quickly passed by a unanimous vote in both houses. It provided for a Commissioner of Immigration who should collect information with regard to the opportunities this country offered to immigrants, the facilities for transportation, and other mat- ters of interest, and should have this information printed in foreign languages, and distributed abroad; he should in all pos- sible ways encourage and protect aliens in this country and pro- mote their coming. The act provided further for an Immigrant Office in New York and another in New Orleans to be in charge of superintendents, who should give aid to immigrants under the supervision of the commissioner, and should co-operate with the local authorities in their fostering and protecting efforts.45 The House amended the bill so as to allow laborers to enter into contract with American employers to refund out of their wages the costs of transportation when these costs were paid by the employers.46 In other words, the House amendment aimed to promote immigration by encouraging employers to import "con- tract labor"; and the encouragement was effective to an unlooked- for degree.47 Such were the general influences that promoted the growth of immigration to the United States during the greater part of 44 Congressional Globe, 34th Cong., ist sess., pp. g8o, 1410 ff. 45 Congressional Globe, 38th Cong., ISt sess., 865. 46 Ibid. 47 Congresssional Record, XVI, 1785. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR CAUSES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION 69I the nineteenth century. In view of their strength and perma- nence the question naturally arises: Why did not the movement acquire at an earlier date the dimensions it has attained in recent years? Many of the obstacles to emigration in the first half of the nineteenth century were of such character that a mere statement of them would be meaningless or misleading, while a satisfactory explanation would require a more detailed description of political and social conditions in Europe than the nature of this paper would admit. It must suffice, therefore, to enumerate briefly the more serious of them. Prominent among these obstacles would come, of course, the ignorance, on the part of those who wvould profit most by emi- gration, of the opportunities America offered and of the way to get here. To most of them America was little more than a name. The agents of land speculators and of transportation companies employed to advertise in Europe the advantages of life across the sea were numerous, active, and unscrupulous; but they could do little in a community where their glowing descrip- tions were not vouched for by men that were known. It was not until the more enterprising spirits had made trial of the new country and wrote of their success and well-being that their acquaintances among the slow-thinking peasants and prudent artisans gave serious consideration to the advertisements which were copiously furnished them. The information most potent in promoting emigration, then as now, was that conveyed in the letters and descriptions of foreigners already settled here; and at a time when education was limited and means of com- munication neither cheap nor regular, such information filtered slowly through the masses of the people. Another serious obstacle to emigration was found in the policy of European governments. While willing enough to deport paupers and criminals, the public authorities looked with strong disapproval on the departure of their other subjects. It was believed in the first half of the century that the power of a nation, both military and industrial, was weakened by emigraThis content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR 692 JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY tion. In the early part of the century most publicists and states- men agreed with J. B. Say that the departure of a hundred thousand emigrants was equal to the loss of an army of a hun- dred thousand men.48 Even after the middle of the century Wilhelm Roscher could say "our emigrants with all they are and have are lost to the Fatherland." England long tried to prevent the knowledge of the new machinery invented there from reach- ing other lands by prohibiting the departure of skilled workmen. Though she was the freest country in Europe, it was not till 1824 that her restrictions on emigration were abolished.49 "Be- fore that date," says a recent writer, "permission to emigrate had only been accorded as a special favor, except in cases where it was enforced as the penalty of misconduct." In France the right of the individual to emigrate seems to have been recognized from the time of the Revolution, but, as seen above, few French- men cared to take advantage of it. Many German states did not even abolish serfdom till the nineteenth century was well adivanced, and nearly all of them had laws restrictive of emigra- tion till a much later date. In Austria and Italy it was pro- hibited under the severe penalties till the middle of the nineteenth century.50 After our Civil War opposition to immigration began to be offered from this side. It is true that the Sherman Act of I864 was on the statute book for more than a decade, but after i868 no appropriation was made to carry it out; it became, therefore, virtually a dead letter, and the author himself believed that it had been repealed.5' The great abuses of assisted immigration that grew up under that law began to be understood, and occa- sioned a gradual reaction of public opinion with regard to im- porting foreign laborers. Meantime native laborers, profiting by the experience in discipline and organization gained by their service in the army, were achieving a more effective industrial 48 Chandeze, op. cit., p. 9. 49 Statutes of the Realm, 5 Geo. IV, C. 92. s0 Sachs, L'Italie, ses finances et son developpement economique depuis l'unification du royaume, p. 933. f, Congressional Record, XVI, 1785. This content downloaded from 88.250.229.54 on Sun, 09 Sep 2018 17:00:13 UTC All use subject to Terms and Conditions of Use | About JSTOR CAUSES OF EARLIER EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION 693 organization into unions, and could give greater emphasis to their antagonism to aliens as competitors for employment. It is very significant of the growing change of opinion that although three bills to promote immigration were introduced in the House in I873, and several more in the following year, they all perished in committee.52 The time had passed, however, when govern- ment action was needed to induce Europeans to come to America. Of all the obstacles to immigration in the period under re- view the greatest was the difficulty, danger, and cost of the voyage. This merits discussion in a separate article. THOMAS WALKER PAGE THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA 5' Congressional Record, XIII, passim.

As a conservative, what must you grudgingly admit? I have no problem with gays getting married,I have no problem with trans using any bathroom they want, But I do have a problem with trans in locker rooms or shower roomsI think a business owner should serve or not serve anyone they wish. let the public determine that issuing using their wallets.I believe that DACA kids should have a pathway to citizenship AFTER the people that are already in line for citenship have been admitted, I also believe that if a daca person commits a felony they should be automatically deported. I believe it is the right thing to do to seperate kids from adults on the border to verify the kid is actually related via a dna test, and after the test is confirmed then reunite the familyTo not do so, is not protecting the children from trafficking,11 AnswersMichael Wallace, studied at Woodcreek High School (2010)Answered SatI wouldn't say anything grudgingly because I'm not reluctant to answer this question. I'm a conservative who isn't afraid to admit:Gay people have every right to marriage as straight people.A business has the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, but I think that baker in Colorado should have just baked the cake, just as much as the restaurant owner in Virginia should have served Sarah Sanders and her family. I don't know how true the statement was in the Harvey Milk biopic with Sean Penn, but Harvey's character said “I’m a businessman, Scott. And businesses should be good to their customers,” when his boyfriend, Scott's character asked him why he cared about political activism when he's a republican.DACA should not be repealed because it's absolutely unfair to throw people out of the only country they know.NFL players have every right to kneel during the national Home - Anthem's good to support law enforcement officers to keep the peace, but the worship of LEO's is almost frightening.I support San Francisco's status as a sanctuary city. If there are violent criminals that need to be apprehended, the Feds can issue an arrest warrant and I wouldn't shed a quarter of a tear of that individual's deportation.A lot of conservatives talk about “state rights.” If the people of California vote to be a sanctuary state, then so be it. Perhaps it should be left to a county-level, but I already know the democrats in both the Assembly and the Senate wouldn't agree with me.The undermining of millennials and people who live in California is getting really old. I get your jokes, but when you say things like that with such seriousness, I'm going to suggest that you just shut your mouth and keep it closed.The fact that the supervisors of San Francisco voted on naming SFO's terminal 1 in Harvey Milk's honor bothers me. Either name the entire airport or the international terminal in his honor. He was a champion for gay rights not just in San Francisco; he was a champion for gay rights all over the world. This is just a petty statement. Don't take it seriously. Just something I want people to know.That's about all I can think of for the time being. I'll throw in more if I think of something to add. Feel free to call me a “snowflake” or any kind of ad hominem character attack, but you're only stooping to the same level as radical left-wingers.19.7k Views · View UpvotersUpvote · 574ShareRecommendedAllPromoted by Draw It To Know It Medical SciencesTutorials in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and embryology.4000+ quiz questions, clinical correlations, and clear diagrams. Perfect companion for medical school.Free trial at drawittoknowit.comMiles Gordon, Writes about life, law enforcement, music, and other stuff.Answered Jun 18A couple of things come to mind, and I admit them freely, not grudgingly.The current policy of holding immigrant children at the Mexican border is morally wrong. It should never have started and needs to stop. Now.DACA was the morally right thing to do, but it was illegally implemented. A legally-implemented protection for young adults who came to America as children, and who now wish to be part of America, must be found.The U.S. is spending its moral capital among nations at an alarming rate. Before long, we no longer will have the authority to claim the moral high ground when scolding other nations about their human-rights violations.There’s a good argument that time has already passed.14.6k Views · View UpvotersUpvote · 253ShareRecommendedAllTrevor Bacquet, Aspiring Author with Asperger SyndromeAnswered SunI actually don’t have to admit a damn thing. I certainly lean conservative, but there’s certainly areas I disagree.For one thing, I’m in favor of ending the Drug War. I’m in favor of decriminalizing all drugs. We’ve been trying to stamp them out for over four decades and they’re still as easy to get as ever. I have few social skills, no social connections, yet even I could get drugs if I were so inclined.We’d be far better off if we focused on treatment more than punishment. I’m fully aware this isn’t a perfect solution to our addiction problem, but sending them to prison doesn’t work, and makes it more difficult to get their lives together, thus making it more likely they continue using. Most people do eventually stop using, but by the time they do, they’ve wasted many years and burned every bridge they have.Another is that abstinence-only education doesn’t work and I don’t know why some people are so insistent that it is. You’re not going to get everyone or even a significant number of people to wait until marriage to have sex, not when the average marriage age is pushing 30. I can’t help but notice that the highest teen pregnancy rate is in the Bible Belt.I wouldn’t say mine was abstinence only, but it wasn’t too far from that, with the health book we were given saying to wait for marriage. Human beings are human beings; we’ve rarely lived up to that ideal and that’s not including fooling around stopping just short of full intercourse. I’d recommend teaching about contraceptives, while still making it clear that this isn’t a decision to be made mildly by anyone. Many people, women and men, end up regretting who they gave their virginity to.I have absolutely no problem with letting homosexuals get married; if they’ve found someone, more power to them.EDIT: to answer the question a lot of people have been asking me, yes, I do lean libertarian. There are a few major things I disagree with them on, so I don’t consider myself to be one; I’m much more of an economic conservative than a social one.3.2k Views · View UpvotersUpvote · 209ShareRecommendedAllPromoted by Morning BrewWant to be the smartest person in the room?Meet Morning Brew — the daily email that delivers all the business news you need in just 5 minutes.Sign up at morningbrew.comMike Ashley, former Officer at U.S. Army (2005-2012)Answered Jun 27Ill admit a few things freely, but not grudgingly.the war on drugs has caused more problems than it has solved, and the legalization of MJ would solve a lot of social and medical problems.Time to end private prisons. They have a goal to put and keep people in jail, and are lobbying to keep things like MJ illegal.Some medical care should be free. If you have cancer, or certain other illnesses that drain the finances, and it’s not something you can easily prevent, the state should care for you. No need to break your wallet and send your family to the poor house because of it. However, something that your behavior directly caused and continues to cause should not be covered. Issues related to obesity consume 1/3 or the medical spending in the US and is easily preventable.There should be a legal way for kids brought into the US illegally to become citizens.726 Views · View UpvotersUpvote · 26ShareColin McdermottWell said....User-11149291956679420040Answered SunI’ll take this on as a Libertarian, as we are similarly (if not more) controversial.There is no master plan. We aren’t actually trying to provide practical solutions as equal alternatives to current systems. We operate on moral codes, mainly the principle of non-aggression, and morality doesn’t change based on the color of your clothes. So actually, we promote a system of freedom irrespective of the practicality of market solutions (as good as they are). We promote a way of how humans should relate, not how every specific thing will be done.2. It is ok to be racist. You have every moral right to believe, and think, that the color of your pigments on your skin, and your group, is superior to another. You even have the right to decide who to deny service to, who to interact with, etc. You do NOT have the right, however, to initiate violence, and to force your ideas on others (be it threats of violence under the ‘law’).3. You have as much right to healthcare, a job, a living wage, as much as you have a right to jolly ranchers. So in essence, you don’t. You don’t have a human right to the labor, and produce, of someone else. In fact if you did, (not to sound like a broken clock) that would mean the person providing you the service is your slave. Rights are statements of a negative, such as a thing you can do, that it is immoral for people to actively infringe upon.4. No, you don’t get to “agree to disagree” with us. Since aggression, extortion, and initiating violence is wrong, your ‘political’ opinions are not ‘respectable’ and of ‘just a different view’ than us. Every ‘law’, is just a threat of violence, meaning if you do or not do a certain thing, than be prepared to suffer consequences that are enforced through the threat of the barrel of a gun. You ‘agreeing to disagree’ that you think initiating violence and forcing your will on us is okay, does not fly with us (or morality).5. We are the real liberals. There is even a term for us, classical liberal. The word even implies ‘liberty’. Except that, we are willing to be principled, and actually consistent. We don’t have some mushy headed concept of what we think is ‘liberal’ that changes with every election. We stick to moral principles, that applies as much when freely trading with another person (economic freedom), to allowing someone the unalienable right to become transgender (social freedom). Oh, and not militantly shun opposing views (antifa, hint, hint).6. The U.S. isn’t a free country. I guess this wouldn’t fit into ‘grudgingly’, but it should be said. Simply because there are still indoctrinated patriots who mindlessly honor this country, and hallucinate this country to be free. Here, no more need be said, just read this short article: "It's a Free Country!7. The Free Market isn’t perfect. I am not even sure whether anyone even proposed that. Second, every side has their own facts. While some facts might actually hold, every side finds facts in their favor. However, what HAS been established, is the market absolutely does work, and can provide a great majority (if not all) services, to the point to where even if it isn’t perfect, or that it is equal to a government-interfered economy, or even a bit worse, in no way does it justify the systematic coercion of government.8. 9/11 was an inside job. Haha, just kidding. I actually am not sure. However, whether it was or not, is irrelevant to the conclusion that has already been drawn, irrespective of whether it was a government operation or not. That being, the government, with its means, motives, etc., will gladly sacrifice some of its own people for strategic, economic and/or political gain.That’s all for now.729 Views · View UpvotersUpvote · 3ShareRecommendedAllShaun Sherman, lives in Washington, DCAnswered 2h agoIt’s not hard to admit this because it’s simply how I feel:The religous right hurts the conservative platform greatly. If we want the left out of our pocketbooks, the right should stay out of our bedrooms.Somewhat covered above, but Gay Marriage is fine. You can love who you want.DACA kids need a path to citizenship now. It’s not their fault they’re here and this is what they call home. Figure it out.We do need a solid safety net to help those that can’t help themselves. There is such a thing as folks who are down and out through no fault of their own.it - [email protected] - business online’s a travesty that a family can go broke because a member of said family gets sick. It’s hard enough to handle that emotionally. There needs to be a fund for covering those costs. Insurance companies make a fortune. Let’s figure out a way to make it happen.Single Payer isn’t a bad idea - IF you have a way to keep the quality of care high. That’s the sticking point.We need a plan for those illegal immigrants that have settled in here, and it doesn’t involved deporting 12 million of them. That’s a disaster. Identify them, give them two years to process their paperwork and pay their fees like permanent residents have done. They get temporary green cards during that time. Secure the border properly to stem the flow so we don’t repeat this 20 years from now.We only need a wall if it’s cost effective. Run the ROI on it. If it reduces illegal immigration by enough to overwhelm the cost of its construction, build it. If it’s a net loss, don’t.Those are some things off the top of my head.18 Views · View UpvotersUpvote · 1ShareRecommendedAllChelsea WestmorelandAnswered Jun 18There isn’t a Conservative party that is focused on the Conservative ideals of limited government and judiciary and fiscal restraint here in the United States. Both parties grow government and give out rewards to favored groups and lobbies, but only one party does it in the name of Conservatism.820 Views · View UpvotersUpvote · 48ShareRecommendedAllRelated Questions