[Image: Cropped map of 1871–1914 Europe; Text: Irish-Danish-German Heritage]

(Europe, 1871–1914)

American Immigration

Irish–Danish–German Heritage

Pictures | Data | Reference list

Pictures

The following pictures show immigrants to the United States (for more, see Castle Garden Emigrant Landing Depot):

Emigrants from the Ship Kossuth, at the Foot of Rutger’s Slip, New York.
[Image: Immigrants and ships]

Source: Reproduced from image of engraving by John L. Magee, Emigrants from the Ship Kossuth, at the Foot of Rutger’s Slip, New York, in Gleason’s Pictorial, 9 August 1851, 85, https://archive.org/stream/gleasonspictoria01glea#page/85/mode/1up; caption in the original.

Note: Unlike the caption, the sign on the ship (right) says “Cossouth” not “Kossuth.”

Throwing Down the Ladder by Which They Rose.
[Image: European immigrants atop wall with Chinese below]
Emigrants Departing for the West.
[Image: Immigrants and baggage]
A Character Scene in the Emigrant Waiting Room of the Union Pacific Railroad Depot at Omaha.
[Image: People in train station]
Immigrants at Battery Park, New York, N. Y.
[Image: Immigrants and horse carriage]

Source: Reproduced from image of dry-plate negative by Byron (firm), “Immigrants at Battery Park, New York, N. Y.,” ca. 1900 (Detroit, MI: Detroit Publishing Co.), http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994014680/PP/; image cropped of border and holder, caption in the original.

Emigrants Coming to the “Land of Promise”
[Image: Emigrants on ship]

Source: Reproduced from image of one of pair of stereographs by William H. Rau, “Emigrants Coming to the ‘Land of Promise’,” 1902, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/97501632/; image straightened and cropped of border and holder, caption in the original.

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Data

The two tables below show that in the 91 years between 1820 and 1910, inclusive, 27,918,992 immigrants came to the United States:

Immigration to the United States, 1820 to 1910, by decade.
Period.Immigrants.Per cent distribution.Average per year.

Source: Reprinted from table, Table 2.—“Immigration to the United States, 1820 to 1910, by Decade,” in Immigration Commission 1911, 5; caption and footnote in the original

Note [in the original]: Compiled from official sources. For 1820 to 1867 the figures are for alien passengers arriving; for 1868 to 1903, for immigrants arriving; for 1904 to 1906, for aliens admitted; and for 1907 to 1910, for immigrant aliens admitted.
1820 to 1830151,8240.513,802
1831 to 1840599,1252.159,913
1841 to 18501,713,2516.1171,325
1851 to 18602,598,2149.3259,821
1861 to 18702,314,8248.3231,482
1871 to 18802,812,19110.1281,219
1881 to 18905,246,61318.8524,661
1891 to 19003,687,56413.2368,756
1901 to 19108,795,38631.5879,539
Total27,918,992100.0306,802
Immigration to the United States, 1820 to 1910.
Year.Immigrants.

Source: Reprinted from table, Table 1.—“Immigration to the United States, 1820 to 1910,” in Immigration Commission 1911, 4; caption and footnotes in the original

Note [in the original]: Compiled from official sources. For 1820 to 1867 the figures are for alien passengers arriving; for 1868 to 1903, for immigrants arriving; for 1904 to 1906, for aliens admitted; and for 1907 to 1910, for immigrant aliens admitted. The years from 1820 to 1831 and from 1844 to 1849, inclusive, are those ending September 30; 1833 to 1842 and 1851 to 1867, inclusive, those ending December 31; 1869 to 1910, those ending June 30.

  • aFifteen months ending December 31.
  • bNine months ending September 30.
  • cSix months ending June 30.
18208,385
18219,127
18226,911
18236,354
18247,912
182510,199
182610,837
182718,875
182827,382
182922,520
183023,322
183122,633
1832a60,482
183358,640
183465,365
183545,374
183676,242
183779,340
183838,914
183968,069
184084,066
184180,289
1842104,565
1843b52,496
184478,615
1845114,371
1846154,416
1847234,968
1848226,527
1849297,024
1850a369,980
1851379,466
1852371,601 [sic; 371,603]
1853368,645
1854427,833
1855200,877
1856200,436
1857251,306
1858123,126
1859121,282
1860153,640
186191,918
186291,985
1863176,282
1864193,418
1865248,120
1866318,568
1867315,722
1868c138,840
1869352,768
1870387,203
1871321,350
1872404,806
1873459,803
1874313,339
1875227,498
1876169,986
1877141,857
1878138,469
1879177,826
1880457,257
1881669,431
1882788,992
1883603,322
1884518,592
1885395,346
1886334,203
1887490,109
1888546,889
1889444,427
1890455,302
1891560,319
1892579,663
1893439,730
1894285,631
1895258,536
1896343,267
1897230,832
1898229,299
1899311,715
1900448,572
1901487,918
1902648,743
1903857,046
1904812,870
19051,026,499
19061,100,735
19071,285,349
1908782,870
1909751,786
19101,041,570
Total27,918,992

The next two tables show immigration to the United States by country of origin:

Immigration to the United States, by country of origin, during the period 1820 to 1910.
Country of origin.Number of immigrants.

Source: Adapted from and calculated from table, Table 8.—“Immigration to the United States, by Country of Origin, During the Period 1820 to 1910,” in Immigration Commission 1911, 13; “Other” header, “Total Other” row, and emphasis added; caption and footnotes in the original.

Note [in the original]: Compiled from official sources. For 1820 to 1867 the figures are for alien passengers arriving; for 1868 to 1903, for immigrants arriving; for 1904 to 1906, for aliens admitted; and for 1907 to 1910, for immigrant aliens admitted.

  • aIncluding natives of Sweden who arrived 1820 to 1868.
  • bNot including natives of Poland who arrived 1899 to 1910 and were included under Austria–Hungary, German Empire, and Russian Empire.
  • cNot including natives of Sweden who arrived 1820 to 1868 and were included under Norway.
Europe:
Austria–Hungary3,172,461
Belgium103,796
Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro39,440
Denmark258,053
France, including Corsica470,868
German Empire5,351,746
Greece186,204
Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia3,086,356
Netherlands175,943
Norwaya665,189
Polandb165,182
Portugal, including Cape Verde and Azores Islands132,989
Roumania72,117
Russian Empire2,359,048
Spain, including Canary and Balearic Islands69,296
Swedenc1,021,165
Switzerland237,401
Turkey in Europe85,800
United Kingdom—
England2,212,071
Ireland4,212,169
Scotland488,749
Wales59,540
United Kingdom, not specified793,801
Other Europe2,545
Total Europe25,421,929
Asia:
China326,060
India5,409
Japan158,344
Turkey in Asia106,481
Other Asia16,942
Total Asia613,236
[Other:]
Africa9,581
Australia and New Zealand31,654
Pacific Islands, not specified8,859
British North American possessions1,231,107
Central America9,759
Mexico77,645
South America29,385
West Indies, including Jamaica233,146
Countries not specified252,691
[Total Other]1,883,827
Grand total27,918,992
Immigration to the United States ranked by country of origin, 1820–1910
RankCountry of originNumber of immigrants

Source: Adapted from table, Table 8.—“Immigration to the United States, by Country of Origin, During the Period 1820 to 1910,” in Immigration Commission 1911, 13; order of countries changed and rankings and emphasis added; footnotes in the original.

Note [in the original]: Compiled from official sources. For 1820 to 1867 the figures are for alien passengers arriving; for 1868 to 1903, for immigrants arriving; for 1904 to 1906, for aliens admitted; and for 1907 to 1910, for immigrant aliens admitted.

  • aIncluding natives of Sweden who arrived 1820 to 1868.
  • bNot including natives of Poland who arrived 1899 to 1910 and were included under Austria–Hungary, German Empire, and Russian Empire.
  • cNot including natives of Sweden who arrived 1820 to 1868 and were included under Norway.
1German Empire5,351,746
2Ireland4,212,169
3Austria–Hungary3,172,461
4Italy, including Sicily and Sardinia3,086,356
5Russian Empire2,359,048
6England2,212,071
7British North American possessions1,231,107
8Swedenc1,021,165
9United Kingdom, not specified793,801
10Norwaya665,189
11Scotland488,749
12France, including Corsica470,868
13China326,060
14Denmark258,053
15Countries not specified252,691
16Switzerland237,401
17West Indies, including Jamaica233,146
18Greece186,204
19Netherlands175,943
20Polandb165,182
21Japan158,344
22Portugal, including Cape Verde and Azores Islands132,989
23Turkey in Asia106,481
24Belgium103,796
25Turkey in Europe85,800
26Mexico77,645
27Roumania72,117
28Spain, including Canary and Balearic Islands69,296
29Wales59,540
30Bulgaria, Servia, and Montenegro39,440
31Australia and New Zealand31,654
32South America29,385
33Other Asia16,942
34Central America9,759
35Africa9,581
36Pacific Islands, not specified8,859
37India5,409
38Other Europe2,545
Total27,918,992

The final two tables show the foreign-born population of the United States in the second half of the 19th century:

Percentage of foreign-born United States population, 1850–1900
YearForeign-
born population		Total populationPercentage

Sources: Data from and calculated from:

  • Forstall 1996, (PDF) 3–4.
  • Table 9.—“Foreign-born Population of Continental United States, by Country of Birth: 1850 to 1900,” in Immigration Commission 1911, 416.
  • a[in Immigration Commission 1911] Not including Indian Territory.
18502,244,60223,191,8769.68%
18604,138,69731,443,32113.16%
18705,567,22938,558,37114.44%
18806,679,94350,189,20913.31%
1890a9,249,54762,979,76614.69%
190010,341,27676,212,16813.57%
Foreign-born population of continental United States, by country of birth: 1850 to 1900.
Country of birth.1900.1890.a1880.1870.1860.1850.

Source: Reprinted from table, Table 9.—“Foreign-born Population of Continental United States, by Country of Birth: 1850 to 1900,” in Immigration Commission 1911, 416; emphasis added; caption and footnotes in the original.

  • aNot including Indian Territory.
  • bIn the census of 1900 the number of persons born in Poland is given as follows: Poland (Austrian) 58,497; Poland (German) 150,210; Poland (Russian) 154,376; Poland (unknown) 20,324.
  • cIncludes Newfoundland.
  • dBritish America.
  • eNot including Porto Rico [sic].
  • fHawaii only.
  • gIncludes Hawaii.
  • hIncludes persons born abroad but country not specified, and persons born at sea under a foreign flag.
All foreign countries10,341,2769,249,5476,679,9435,567,2294,138,6972,244,602
Europe8,871,8958,020,6085,744,3114,936,6183,805,7012,031,867
Northwest Europe3,845,2894,056,1603,212,4312,867,9262,271,6611,358,887
United Kingdom2,783,0823,122,9112,772,1692,626,2412,199,0791,340,812
Ireland1,615,4591,871,5091,854,5711,855,8271,611,304961,719
Wales93,586100,07983,30274,53345,76329,868
England840,513909,092664,160555,046433,494278,675
Scotland233,524242,231170,136140,835108,51870,550
Scandinavia1,062,207933,249440,262241,68572,58218,075
Denmark153,805132,54364,19630,1079,9621,838
Norway336,388322,665181,729114,24643,99512,678
Sweden572,014478,041194,33797,33218,6253,559
Central Europe3,878,6493,447,5642,325,9311,919,8131,399,114609,239
Holland104,93181,82858,09046,80228,2819,848
Belgium29,75722,63915,53512,5539,0721,313
Luxemburg3,0312,88212,8365,802——
Switzerland115,593104,06988,62175,15353,32713,358
Germany2,663,4182,784,8941,966,7421,690,5331,276,075583,774
Austria275,907123,27138,66330,50825,061946
Bohemia156,891118,10685,36140,289——
Polandb383,407147,44048,55714,4367,298—
Hungary145,71462,43511,5263,737——
East Europe486,367182,64435,7224,6443,1601,414
Finland62,641—————
Russia423,726182,64435,7224,6443,1601,414
Southwest Europe625,882317,935164,932141,997129,90762,135
Portugal30,60815,9968,1384,5424,1161,274
Spain7,0506,1855,2883,8414,2443,113
France104,197113,174106,971116,402109,87054,069
Italy484,027182,58044,53517,21211,6773,679
Southeast Europe33,4573,7261,981692456192
Greece8,5151,88777639032886
Turkey9,9101,8391,205302128106
Roumania15,032—————
Europe (not specified)2,25112,5793,3141,5461,403—
America outside United States1,317,2651,088,245807,230551,335288,285168,484
Canadac1,179,807c980,938d717,157d493,464d249,970d147,711
English784,741678,442————
French395,066302,496————
West Indiese25,43523,25616,40111,5707,3535,772
Cuba11,081—6,9175,319——
Other West Indies14,354—9,4846,251——
Mexico103,39377,85368,39942,43527,46613,317
Central America3,8971,192707301233141
South America4,7335,0064,5663,5653,2631,543
Asia120,248113,383107,63064,56536,7961,135
Japan24,7882,29240173——
China81,534106,688104,46863,04235,565758
India2,0312,1431,707586——
Asia (not specified)11,8952,2601,0548641,231377
Africa2,5382,2072,2042,657526551
Australia6,8075,9844,9063,1181,419—
Oceanic islands11,78113,1089,5945,3442,082f588
Atlantic islands9,7689,7397,6414,4341,361—
Pacific islands2,013g3,369g1,953g910g721f588
All othersh10,7426,0124,0683,5923,88841,977

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Reference list

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