Speech #680070868

Now. dealing with the second period of immigration. It began in 1820 and ran up to the time of the Chinese exclusion law of 1882. During that time we had a continuance of the northern and western European immigration. The political disturbances in Germany in 1848 resulted in a very large German immigration during the decade between 1850 and 1860. That reached its peak in the year 1854. in which year alone 215.000 Germans emigrated from Germany. to this country. At the same time there was another motive which was working on the British and the Irish. because of the great potato famine in Ireland In 1855. so that we got a tremendous immigration from Ireland during that same decade. It was about that time. if I recall correctly. that the "KnowNothing" movementwhich was something like the antiforeign agitation of the Ku Klux todayhad its rise.