Reader's Guide

The U.S. Constitution, signed in 1789, gave Congress the right to create laws involving immigration and citizenship. When the first Congress assembled, it created a loose idea of what it meant to be a citizen of the United States: all "free white persons" who had lived in the country for a couple of years were eligible. But the concept of citizenship was still vague. The naturalization process—the set of rules for becoming a citizen—was initially quite simple. The young nation actively sought immigrants to bring their professional skills and labor and to take part in expanding the borders of the nation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. There were initially no immigration agencies or border patrols—no passports or green cards. But not everyone was allowed to become a citizen or afforded the same rights. Issues of race for non-whites and Hispanics as well as a historical preference for the northwestern European immigrants led to inequalities and discrimination from the start.

Legislations and policies have continually added to or changed the original vague requirements, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship and immigration. Through the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, after the American Civil War (1861–65), the concept of the "free white persons" eligible to become citizens was amended to include African Americans. Women's citizenship generally was dependent on their husband or father's citizenship until 1920. Until 1943, most Asians were not included in the definition of someone who could become a citizen.

American sentiment toward immigrants has always gone back and forth between positive and negative for a number of reasons. During good economic times when labor is needed, immigrants usually receive better treatment than during economic downturns when people fear the competition for employment. When mass migrations from particular areas begin, there is often hostility in the United States toward the latest group to arrive. They are often perceived as different and as a threat to "American values," values leaning more toward Western European traditions. Immigration has almost always been at the center of political controversy in the United States. In fact, the first anti-immigrant government policies began to arise within only a few years of the signing of the Constitution.

Immigration restrictions brought about by nativist (favoring the interests of people who are native-born to a country, though generally not concerning Native Americans, as opposed to its immigrants), racist, or anti-immigrant attitudes have had a very major impact on the U.S. population, dictating who entered the country and in what numbers. The Chinese, for example, were virtually stopped from immigrating by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 until it was repealed in 1943. Many families were separated for decades because of the severity of U.S. restrictions. Immigration from many other countries was significantly reduced by the immigration quota (assigned proportions) systems of 1921 and 1924.

Most immigrants, since the first English settlers landed at Jamestown, have had to pay tremendous dues to settle in North America. There has been a long-held pattern in which the latest arrivals have often been forced to take on the lowest-paying and most undesirable jobs. However, many historians of immigration point out that the brightest and most promising professional prospects of the nations of the world have immigrated to the United States. A daring spirit and the ability to overcome obstacles have always been, and continue to be today, qualities common to the immigrants coming into the nation.

The United States differs from many other countries of the world in having a population made up of people descended from all of the world's nations. Immigration controversy continues to confront the United States in the early twenty-first century, posing difficult questions from concerns about regulating entry and controlling undocumented immigration, to providing public services and a decent education to recently arrived immigrants. In the early years of the twenty-first century, the U.S. Marines intercepted refugees from the civil uprising in Haiti and sent them back to their country, where they feared for their lives. When does the United States provide refuge and what makes the nation deny others who are in need? These concerns are not likely to be resolved in the near future. The value of studying the historical and cultural background of immigration and migration in the nation goes well beyond understanding these difficult issues.

Why study immigration and migration?

As a chronicle of the American people's roots, the history of immigration and migration provides a very intimate approach to the nation's past. Immigration history is strongly centered on the people of the United States rather than the presidential administrations or the wars the nation has fought. Learning about the waves of immigration and migration that populated the continent and seeing the American culture as the mix of many cultures is central to understanding the rich diversity of the United States and appreciating it as a multicultural nation.

The two-volume U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac presents a comprehensive overview of the groups of people who have immigrated to the United States from the nations of Africa, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, as well as those who migrated within the country to unexplored lands or to newly industrialized cities. The first two chapters in the set present general information on immigration and migration—the eras, the means of transportation, and the anti-immigrant movements.

Seventeen chapters in the Almanac are devoted to a group or cluster of groups of immigrants from other nations and cultures. They are presented in a pattern of chronological order, beginning with those first mysterious migrations of peoples to North America thousands of years ago. National groups are presented roughly in the order that their first major waves of immigration occurred, as follows: Pre-Columbian; Spanish; English; Scots and Scotch-Irish; French and Dutch; Africans; German; Irish; Scandinavian; Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino; Jewish; Italian and Greek; Eastern European; Arab; Asian Indian, Korean, and Southeast Asian; Mexican; and other Latino and Caribbean groups. Although it is not possible to include every nation of origin in these volumes, many readers will be able to find their cultural roots in one or more of these chapters.

Most immigration chapters in these volumes begin with the historical background of the old country, leading to the reasons behind the mass migrations in U.S. history. The history of that national or ethnic group in the United States follows. The second section of the chapter presents current population statistics and some selected descriptions of cultural contributions and traditions, with the main focus on the immigration experience itself rather than on the contributions of those whose families have been in the country for several generations.

U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac also includes three chapters on internal migration. One focuses on westward expansion—the Oregon Trail, the California Gold Rush, settling the Great Plains, and much more. Another migration chapter chronicles a few of the forced migrations on the continent—the exile of the Acadians from Nova Scotia, which led to an Acadian culture in Louisiana; the Cherokee Trail of Tears; the Long Walk of the Navajo; the flight of the Nez Perce; and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. A third migration chapter provides an overview of industrialization and urbanization, the Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North, and the urbanization of some Native Americans.

Each chapter in both volumes of U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac contains three types of sidebars: "Words to Know" boxes, which define important terms discussed in the chapter; "Fact Focus" boxes, which have a comprehensive overview of specific and noteworthy events from the chapter; and other boxes that describe people, events, and facts of special interest. Each chapter concludes with a list of additional sources students can go to for more information. Over 150 black-and-white photographs and maps help illustrate the material.

Each volume of U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac begins with a timeline of important events in the history of U.S. immigration and migration; a "Words to Know" section that features important terms from the entire U.S. immigration and migration era; and a "Research and Activity Ideas" section with suggestions for study questions, group projects, and oral and dramatic presentations. The two volumes conclude with a general bibliography and a subject index so students can easily find the people, places, and events discussed throughout U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac.

U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library

U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac is only one component of the three-part U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library. The other two titles in this set are:

  • U.S. Immigration and Migration: Biographies: This two-volume set presents the life stories of fifty individuals who either played key roles in the governmental and societal influences on U.S. immigration and migration or are immigrants who became successful in the United States. Profiled are well-known figures such as German-born physicist Albert Einstein; Scottish-born industrialist Andrew Carnegie; Czech-born Madeleine Albright, the first female U.S. secretary of state; and English-born comedic actor Charlie Chaplin. In addition, lesser-known individuals are featured, such as Kalpana Chawla, the first female astronaut from India; Mexican-born Antonia Hernández, a lawyer and activist for Latino causes; and folk singer Woody Guthrie, whose songs focused on the plight of victims of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s—migrants who left the Midwest in search of a better life in the West.
  • U.S. Immigration and Migration: Primary Sources: This volume tells the story of U.S. immigration and migration in the words of the people who lived and shaped it. Eighteen excerpted documents relating to immigration and migration provide a wide range of perspectives on this period of history. Included are excerpts from presidential vetoes; judicial rulings; various legislative acts and treaties; personal essays; party platforms; and works of fiction featuring immigrants.
  • A cumulative index of all three titles in the U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library is also available.

Acknowledgements

The author and editor would like to thank James L. Outman of Lakeside Publishing Group for his editorial efforts and the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) for their contributions to U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac. Thanks also to copyeditor Theresa Murray, proofreader Amy Marcaccio Keyzer, indexer Trish Yancey, and typesetter Jake Di Vita of the Graphix Group for their fine work. Additional thanks to Julie Burwinkel, media director at Ursuline Academy, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Janet Sarratt, library media specialist at John E. Ewing Middle School, Gaffney, South Carolina, for their help during the early stages of the project.

Comments and suggestions

We welcome your comments on U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac as well as your suggestions for topics to be featured in future editions. Please write to: Editor, U.S. Immigration and Migration: Almanac, U•X•L, 27500 Drake Road, Farmington Hills, Michigan, 48331-3535; call toll-free: 800-877-4253; fax to 248-414-5043; or send e-mail via http://www.gale.com.