Speech #680076429

Revolution swept Europe like wildfire. advocates of religious and political liberty were put to death or escaped to America. For the most part those who escaped were young people and the best blood of the Old World--college students. writers. journalists. and men of high education and high ideals. The other causes which contributed to Increased immigration during the nineteenth century were increases of population. need for expansion. famines. and so forth. In Germany. central Europe. and other sections the consequence of increased population was increased saturation. Some means ilad to be found to absorb the overflow and as America was becoming better known and no other part of the world offered similar opportunities the most of European surplus population came here. A condition of famine in Ireland brought on by despotism influenced a large bulk of the Irish immigration of that time. The Irish came here in great numbers and have taken their places as admirable citizens of the United Statoe. We now come to the most powerful factor in Inciting Immigration to America in the nineteenth centuryour reputation as the land of the free and the haven for oppressed peoples. Inhabitants of overcrowded. harassed Europe. ruled by despots. victims of greed. suppressed and subjected to. all manner of difficulties arising from political intrigues. turned their faces to the west. seeking this wonderful freedom and happiness to be found in America. Friends and relatives already. in the United States wrote glowing accounts of living conditions here. the cheapness and abundance of food. and the availability of unlimited and untouched natural resources waiting to be changed into the gold for which men live and die. In many cases the letters were accompanied by tickets for transportation. The result was many thousands of Europeans disposed of everything they possessed in worldly holdings. severed the ties which held them to the places of their birth. and faced the west with indomitable courage. decision. and determination. At this point it would be well to give some thought to the racial composition of these immigrants of the nineteenth century. The first to come in any great numbers were the Irish. They settled in the Northeastern States. and very soon came into control of the great cities which were springing up In that section.