Chapter 6

Why is Daniels ignoring the old notion of "old" and "new" immigrants, and what the heck is a shibboleth?
The old immigrants from British Isles and Northwestern Europe who came before 1880's were similar to the colonies and were relatively easy to assimilate. The new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe who came after the 1880's were very different ethnicity who spoke strange languages and worshiped strange gods. They were not protestants. The words old and new are not accurate. It could also be argued that most immigrants were either rural or urban. Shibboleth is is any distinguishing practice that is indicative of one's social or regional origin. It usually refers to features of language, and particularly to a word whose pronunciation identifies its speaker as being a member or not a member of a particular group.

What does he say is the most fundamental difference between immigrants in the colonial period and those after 1820 and what accounts for the change?

Reasons for the changes in sources of immigration are because of the changes occurring in Europe and Asia and later in Latin America and Africa. The American economy and society were changing as well. The volume of immigrants changed as well. There was a large increase in the immigration. Although, not all immigration could have been traced for various reasons.

A large part of the Irish migration was because of the famine although that was not the only reason the Irish were migrating. In 1890 four hundred thousand Irish emigrated to the U.S. and they stayed in the United States. 1 in 12 returned home. They made up 15% of the Immigration after the Civil war which is not the time thought of for Irish Immigration. (p.128)

Can you make sense of the tables 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4? What do they tell us about immigration from 1820-1924? (define decennial)

Table 6.2-Decennial figures show a constant increase with four exceptions. 1860's immigration was inhabited by the Civil War, 1890's by the depression, 1910's World War I, and after the guns of August. The nation also grew from being predominantly agriculture nation to and industrial one, and then to an urban nation.

Table 6.3 indicates the numerical impact of immigration. The numbers of immigrants arriving per thousand. 1854 was the largest migration.

Table 6.4 represents foreign born as a percentage of the total population at each census between 1850-1920 where the population grew from 30 million to 105 million.

decennial-reoccurring every ten years

Why did the Irish leave Ireland? How many left?
The Irish left Ireland because of the potato famine and also because of Catholic Irish immigration. Census of 1841 found about 8.2 million, 1851 about 6.6 million.1890's four hundred thousand migrated to the United States.

Why did so many go to New England and particularly Boston? How were they received there?
The Irish originally on their way to Canada because it was convenient for Irish Immigrants to go to Canada, but they soon realized there was few economic opportunities in Canada. Immigrants quickly realized they could get cheap transportation south from the Canadian ports, or they could walk to New England. This transition was also seen as the Second colonization of New England. The prosaid timber trade that made New England heavily Irish.