Immigration to the USA: 1820-1860

In the first half of the 19th century the United States was predominantly an agricultural country. The main reason people decided to leave Europe during this period was the possibility of acquiring cheap or free land. When the area of unoccupied land began to rapidly decline, high wages became the main attraction. In the 1840s wages in the United States was about five times higher than those in Europe.

Between 1820 and 1860 most immigrants came from northern and western Europe. The potato famine in Ireland (1845-1847) brought large numbers to the United States. The unsuccessful 1848 Revolution in Germany also created considerable emigration. Others came from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, Scotland and Wales.

Of the 5,400,000 immigrants arriving in the United States between 1820 and 1860, about 3,700,000, or more than two-thirds, entered at New York. This was followed by New Orleans (550,000), Boston (380,000), Philadelphia (230,000) and Baltimore (230,000).

Until the middle of the 19th century, immigrants had been arriving at a slowly increasing rate: 8,385 in 1820; 23,322 in 1830; and 84,066 in 1840. Between 1830-39 over 538,381 arrived but the next ten years saw this increase to 1,427,337. In 1854 a record 428,000 people arrived in the United States. As a result of this large-scale immigration, the population of the United States between 1830 and 1860 grew from 12,866,000 to 31,443,000.