The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

230 Chapter 8 Toward a National Economy

census, the first to make the distinction, estimated
that of the nation’s population of 23 million, more
than 10 percent were foreign-born. In the Northeast
the proportion exceeded 15 percent.
Most of this human tide came from Germany and
Ireland, but substantial numbers also came from
Great Britain and the Scandinavian countries. As with
earlier immigrants, most were drawn to America by
what are called “pull” factors: the prospect of abun-
dant land, good wages, and economic opportunity
generally, or by the promise of political and religious
freedom. But many came because of “push” factors:
To stay where they were meant to face starvation.
This was particularly true of those from Ireland,
where a potato blight triggered the flight of tens of
thousands. This Irish exodus continued; by the end of
the century there were more people of Irish origin in
America than in Ireland.
Once ashore in New York, Boston, or Philadelphia,
most relatively prosperous immigrants pushed directly
westward. Others found work in the new factory towns
along the route of the Erie Canal, in the lower
Delaware Valley southeast of Philadelphia, or along the
Merrimack River north of Boston. But most of the Irish

immigrants, “the poorest and most wretched popula-

tion that can be found in the world,” one of their

priests called them, lacked the means to go west. Aside

from the cost of transportation, starting a farm required

far more capital than they could raise. Like it or not,

they had to settle in the eastern cities.

Viewed in historical perspective, this massive wave

of immigration stimulated the American economy. In

the short run, the influx of the 1830s and 1840s

depressed living standards and strained the social fab-

ric. For the first time the nation had acquired a cultur-

ally distinctive, citybound, and propertyless class. The

poor Irish immigrants had to accept whatever wages

employers offered them. By doing so they caused

resentment among native workers—resentment exac-

erbated by the unfamiliarity of the Irish with city ways

and by their Roman Catholic faith, which the

Protestant majority associated with European authori-

tarianism and corruption.

The Harbinger, “Female Workers at Lowell”

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Population Density, 1820The thirty years from 1790 to 1820 saw a

sizable increase in population, especially along the Ohio and

Mississippi River valleys.

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

Gulf of Mexico

L.Superior

L.

Mi

ch

ig

an

L.H

uro

n

L. Er

ie

L.

Ontario

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

Gulf of Mexico

L.Superior

L.

Mi

ch

ig

an

L.H

uro

n

L.Er

ie

L.

Ontario

VIRGINIA

NEW YORK

PA.

VT.

MD.DEL.

LOUISIANA

TERRITORY

NORTHWEST OF

THE OHIO RIVER IND.

ILLINOIS

WESTERN

RESERVE

OHIO

FLORIDA

(Spain)

SOUTH

CAROLINA

NORTH

CAROLINA

KENTUCKY

TENNESSEE

ALABAMA GEORGIA

MISS.

R.I.

CONN.

MASS.

N.H.

N.J.

MAINE

Under 2 inhabitants per square mile

2 to 18 inhabitants per square mile

19 to 45 inhabitants per square mile

Over 45 inhabitants per square mile

VIRGINIA

NEW YORK

PA.

VT.

MD.DEL.

LOUISIANA

MISSOURI

TERRITORY

IND.

ILLINOIS

OHIO

FLORIDA

(Spain)

SOUTH

CAROLINA

NORTH

CAROLINA

KENTUCKY

TENNESSEE

ALABAMA GEORGIA

MISS.

R.I.

CONN.

9,638,000

Population growth,

1790–1820

7,239,000

5,308,000

3,929,000

1790180018101820

MASS.

N.H.

N.J.

MAINE

Under 2 inhabitants per square mile

2 to 18 inhabitants per square mile

19 to 45 inhabitants per square mile

Over 45 inhabitants per square mile

MICHIGANTER

RIT

OR

Y

Population Density, 1790Then, as now, the most densely
populated part of the nation was the coastal region from Virginia
to Massachusetts.