Together as One
Often described as a “melting pot”, the United States of America has a rich history of welcoming immigrants, with their many traditions and customs, with open arms. Before the founding fathers signed their declaration, the “New World” of America was already viewed as a safe haven and land of freedom for those escaping religious and social persecution. As our nation developed, the stream of immigrants increased, fueling industrialization through the mid to late 1800s. On the heels of the Industrial Revolution, immigration numbers spiked, leading to Emergency Quota Acts in the 1920s. Such restrictions continued through the rest of the century, changing the ethnic makeup of the United States. In recent years, heated discussions concerning immigration have emerged on the national political platform. As the nation’s leaders reevaluate the role of immigrants in the United States, from a legal perspective it is important to remember the influence such people have had on the nation’s social, cultural, and economical history. Since the founding of the United States, numerous legislative acts that have been passed by the government, in order to regulate the immigrants entering to America. In 1798, four such laws were passed by the United States Congress. Referred to as the Alien and Sedition Acts, these laws were created due to the fear of war with France, and they were intended to strengthen the Federal Government. Sponsored by the Federalist Party, the Acts also outlined the process through which one could become a citizen of the nation. The first law, was called the Naturalization Act, which was passed on June 18th. This law stated that an alien had to be a resident of the United States for fourteen years, in order to become a citizen. Previously, an alien needed to reside in the nation for only five years. On June 25th, 1978, the second law was passed, the Alien Act, stated that the President of the United States could deport any alien that they felt were a danger to the peace and safety of the nation. Congress passed a third law on July 6th, called the Alien Enemies Act. This act allowed the United States Government the ability to arrest, deport and imprison any person that was accused of helping or aiding an enemy power during a period of war. On July 14th, Congress passed the Sedition Law, the fourth and final legislation of the series. This law stated that any person who wrote malicious material could be subject to fines and imprisonment, whether or not they were a citizen of the United States. As a result of this law, a large number of citizens were arrested and fined. Due to the American public’s disappointment, a Republican President was voted into office. Shortly after becoming President, Thomas Jefferson reversed the Sedition Act, freeing men from jail and repaying their fines in full. The year was 1819 and for the first time in the United States, the government passed a law that required any vessel arriving in the United States have a manifest of all passengers on board. This law was called, the Manifest of Immigrants Act of March 2, 1819. This law required the manifest to report the age, sex, occupation, and country of origin for each passenger. While it may not appear to be a major law in American history, this was the first time the United States kept a record of any immigrants upon arrival to the country. Throughout the following years, the United States saw a surge of Irish emigrants flocking to the nation, due to Irelands Potato Famine in 1846. Before the Potato Famine, the Irish had already started migrating to the United States, and finding work on the Erie Canal, and others helped build the railroads. The Irish brought with them a long line of poverty, and that did not change when they migrated to America. Many were skilled workers and were able to offer their talents to help grow the United States. Unfortunately, the Irish that came to the States following the famine were impoverished people marked by a smaller skill set and a less structured religious belief. Many of the Christians in the United States embraced the opportunity to help educate the Irish about God. The Irish had a difficult time fitting in, rejected by many Americans who did not approve of them. Unfortunately, many of the Americans adopted a view of the Irish influenced by the British: “Though many of the Irish emigrants are, doubtless, persons of small means, who have been hoarding and saving for years, and living in rags and squalor, in order to amass sufficient money to carry themselves and families across the Atlantic, and to beg their way to the western states, where they may “squat” or purchase cheap lands, the great bulk appear to be people of the most destitute class, who go to join their friends and relatives, previously established in America.” At the time of the Irish Emigration, the United States was struggling with its own internal changes. During the years of the United States Civil War, the Union Government implemented The Contract Labor Act in 1864, as a means of encouraging immigration. This Act was written to attract people from England, Belgium, France, and other northern European countries in order to provide employers with workers including miners, puddlers, mechanics, machinists, and other skilled labors. By law, these immigrants were required to pay their passage from their home country, and whatever they would need to live. Viewed as a type of indentured servant, these workers received no wage during the repayment period. In 1868, four years later the Act was repealed, while the Foran Act of 1885 further prohibited the use of any contract laborers. The 1850s in America was a very drastic time, and in California prospectors struck gold. The finding of gold in the United States allowed for more laborers to be shipped over from other countries, mainly China. Beginning during the gold rush of the 1850s, Chinese immigrants also held other positions which included agricultural jobs, and factory work, especially in the garment industry. Many of the Chinese became entrepreneurs and developed successful businesses, resulting in greater numbers of arriving immigrants. With the emergence of anti-Chinese groups, the Chinese Exclusion Act was established, and ultimately soured relations between the two countries.
From 1880 to 1890, the United States welcomed nearly two million immigrants to the nation, despite the Federal government having restricted Chinese Immigration. Known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, it was passed on May 6, 1882. Considered to be one of the most significant restrictions on free immigration in the history of the nation, the Chinese Exclusion Act prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers. This legislation was the result of dissatisfaction amongst Americans with the Chinese. “American objections to Chinese immigration took many forms, and generally stemmed from economic and cultural tensions, as well as ethnic discrimination.” Many Chinese came to America to support their families back in China by sending money back to their homeland. In addition to supporting families at home, the Chinese had to repay their shipping merchants, who funded their trip to America. Due to their willingness to work any job at nearly any wage, native citizens became upset, because Americans required more money to live and support their own families. Citizens of America found that they would be undercut by the Chinese, because of their willingness to do same work for less money. “Furthermore, as with most immigrant communities, many Chinese settled in their own neighborhoods, and tales spread of Chinatowns as places where large numbers of Chinese men congregated to visit prostitutes, smoke opium, or gamble.” Many legislators would argue the positive effects of the Chinese in America. The Democratic Party in the West led an initiative to remove the Chinese from the United States. In order not to offend the Chinese Government, President Hayes sought a revision of the Burlingame-Seward Treaty, but not prohibit, Chinese immigration, while also confirming the obligation of the United States to protect the rights of those immigrants already arrived. This was eventually reversed when the Chinese Exclusion Act passed in 1882. “The Act also required every Chinese person traveling in or out of the country to carry a certificate identifying his or her status as a laborer, scholar, diplomat, or merchant.” The Act was the first in U.S. History to put such restrictions on any immigrants.
In 1888, the Government took the Act an even extra step, and passed the Scott Act. Which made reentry back to the United States from China impossible, no matter how long you lived in the United States, legal citizen or not,. In 1892 the Federal Government of the United States voted to renew the Act for ten more years in the Geary Act. Then again in 1902, they passed for another ten years, except this time if fell over Hawaii and the Philippines. Congress later then passed the Exclusion Act indefinitely. When scholars look on American Immigration, they cannot look passed a little island in the New York Harbor. In 1892, the government opened and constructed a new Federally-operated immigration station on this island. “From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island.” During their voyages to America, people would pay for their passage and would be labeled. The label of First, Second, or Third class on board would decide on how you would be inspected upon arrival. First and Second class passengers would undergo a cursory inspection aboard their ship. The belief being, that if you could afford a first or second class ticket, then you were less likely to become a public charge in America. The only way for a first or second class passenger to get inspected by an official on Ellis Island, was if they were sick or had legal issues.
Unfortunately, this was not the case for third class passengers. The “Steerage” or the third class voyagers would have extremely harsh traveling conditions. More than likely they would be in a crowded storage area on the bottom deck of the vessel. When the ship would dock they would have to wait for the First and Second class passengers to clear the boat, and then they would be transported to Ellis Island by ferry. Upon arrival of the Third class voyagers, they would go through a series of medical and legal inspections in order to enter the United States. If the immigrant had all of their papers and were in good health the total time of inspection could last from three to five hours.
Ellis Island would become known as “The Island of Tears”, despite the fact that the majority of immigrants were treated with respect and courtesy. It would only take a few short hours, before most immigrants were granted entry into their new home. Unfortunately, not all immigrants were allowed to enter. Only two percent of the immigrants were denied access to the United States. If one did not pass the inspections conducted by the United States Public Health Service and the Bureau of Immigration they would be refused entry. There were very few reasons why an immigrant would not be allowed to access to the New World, these reasons include, if one had a contagious disease and if an immigrant was to be used as an illegal contract laborer.
Several immigration officials in the early 1900s, made the mistake in believing that the peak of immigration has already occurred. This was not the case, immigration had its peak year in 1907. More immigrants came to America in 1907 than any other year; approximately 1.25 million immigrants were processed at Ellis Island.
In 1905 across the United States another island to dictate and control immigration opened. The island was located in the San Francisco Bay, and was called Angel Island, also known as United States Immigration Station. Unfortunately, Angel Island was not as welcoming to immigrants as Ellis Island was. The majority of the emigrants were Chinese, in fact it was nearly impossible for someone from China to enter the United States due to the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Act that passed in 1882, kept the majority of the future Chinese out of the country, but the legislation could not keep the sons and daughters of now U.S. citizens from emigrating. Men and women could become a citizen by providing the proper documentation and evidence that they were the children of United States citizens, these people became known as “Paper Sons” and “Paper Daughters”. Unfortunately, it seemed to be extremely difficult for one prove that they had family that was a United States Citizen. Angel Island became more of an interrogation and detention center then an immigration port. The process to prove that the paperwork was legitimate could take as little as several weeks to a month. There were some emigrants that it took up to two years to provide validity to the paperwork. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of emigrants were able to find a new life, in their new homeland.
Immigration began to slow down in the 1910s, in large part due to World War I. A bulky amount of suspected enemy aliens were brought to Ellis Island from all over the nation and would be transferred to different locations in the U.S. The United States Navy, was put in charge of Ellis Island during wartime, and they decided who could come into America. “Hundreds were later deported based upon the principal of guilt by association with any organizations advocating revolution against the Federal government.” With the end of World War I, immigration became a large debate amongst politicians who wanted to limit immigrants coming to the America. In 1917, Congress would pass a law that would have a widespread effect on the world, where formerly the focus appeared to be on Asia. The Immigration Act of 1917 was passed by Congress, and this became the first law to provide literacy test to immigrants. The Immigration Act was vetoed four times, by four different Presidents before it passed. While President Woodrow Wilson was in office, Congress was able to pass the law regardless of his objections.
The law changed the many prior acts, to now limit and regulate immigration. The head tax on an immigrant was changed to eight dollars, which was previously four dollars. Also included was a list of “undesirables”, this encompassed an extremely large amount of people, including but not limited to “idiots,” “feeble-minded persons,” “epileptics,” “insane persons,” alcoholics, “professional beggars,” all persons “mentally or physically defective,” polygamists, and anarchists…” An exclusion of anyone sixteen or older who could not read thirty to forty words of their desired language. One key component of the Act was restricting any immigration from the “Asiatic Barred Zone” The Asiatic Barred Zone covered most of Asia, and a large amount of Middle Eastern countries. This was a large factor in the passing of this act, now instead of Japan and China, most of Asia has now been restricted. Surprisingly, this did not have much of a role in slowing down immigration. The year the act passed, more than 800,000 immigrants came to the United States and less than two thousand had to take literacy test. It was not until the Quota system was passed that immigration came to a screeching halt.
In 1921, immigration into America became extremely difficult. On May 19th, the Emergency Quota Act was passed and a brand new system of allowing immigrants into the United States was introduced. The Act used a mathematical system, involving the U.S. Census, which would allow entrance to the U.S. up to three percent of each nationality. The law would vary drastically between the countries. This Act lasting only 3 short years would quickly be replaced, by the passing of the Johnson-Reed Act in 1924.
The Immigration Act of 1924, was the first act to issue visas to immigrants, only up to two percent of the nation’s quota. The government not only changed the percentage, but also pushed back the census date ten years. The act completely excluded people from Asia, and was a main focal point for European countries. Legislation also decided to define who could enter as a “non-quota” immigrant, the list included wives and children under the age of 18. The law also changed after 1927, where instead of allowing quotas for each nationality in the country. The government put an overall quota of 150,000 immigrants a year with a minimum quota of 100 and it was to be split up among the nations. The act was to completely uphold and preserve the American homogeneity, by increasing the standards of how to gain citizenship in the U.S. The Johnson-Reed Act remained in place until 1965, when the Hart-Celler Act was passed.
In 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed, also known as the Hart-Celler Act. The law completely abolished the National Origins Quota System. Pushing aside the use of a numerical method of allowing immigrants into the U.S., the government would decide whether or not one could acquire a visa. The visa amount was amplified from 150,000 to 170,000, and one would be received depending on skills and relationships with family in the U.S. With few revisions the Hart-Celler Act, is still used in the United States today.
The United States of America has been a destination of many different immigrants, since its discovery by Eastern European Countries in 1492. Individuals from all over the World have come and established themselves as a part of the United States, bringing with them culture, roles in society, and participation to help develop the nation. Many of the immigrants come from nothing, most have been excluded from the U.S., and a large amount have been sent back to where they traveled from. No matter the difference in age, sex, occupation, and origins, everyone has an opportunity in the United States today.

Bibliography
Primary Sources
Boston Recorder (1830-1849), Irish Immigrants.: What Shall Be Done For Them. May 1, 1835
Cohen, Bruce Hanlan, James P. "Contract Labor Act (1864)." In Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor. Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO ,2004. http://search.credoreference.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/content/entry/abcamlabor/contract_labor_act_1864/0 (accessed April 19, 2014.) Document 63: Act of February 5, 1917: Immigration Act of 1917, Regulation the Immigration of Aliens to and Residence of Aliens in the United State. (39 Stat. 874; 8 U.S.C.) US Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues pg.109-112 Manifest of Immigrants Act of March 2, 1819 (3 Stat. 489) US Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues pg. 20 Ngai, Mae. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. Princeton University Press. 2004. pp.264
The Illustrated London News, The Tide of Emigration to the United States and to the British Colonies, July 6, 1850
Secondary Sources
1921 Emergency Quota Law (An act to limit the immigration of aliens into the United States)H.R. 4075; Pub.L. 67-5; 42 Stat. 5. 67th Congress; May 19, 1921. http://library.uwb.edu/guides/USimmigration/1921_emergency_quota_law.html
1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, a.k.a. the Hart-Cellar Act (An Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, and for other purposes)H.R. 2580; Pub.L. 89-236; 79 Stat. 911.89th Congress; October 3, 1965. http://library.uwb.edu/guides/usimmigration/1965_immigration_and_nationality_act.html “Angel Island: A Brief History of the US Immigration Station” http://www.angelisland.com/united_states_immigration_station/usis_history.php
Bromberg, Howard. “Immigration Act of 1917 The Law: Federal law imposing major new restrictions on categories of people allowed to immigrate”. Published: 14-02-2012, 11:12 http://immigrationinamerica.org/588-immigration-act-of-1917.html
Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts, Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. http://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/chinese-immigration “Ellis Island History”, The National Park Service, http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_history.asp
The Alien and Sedition Acts from 1798, from Folwell's "Laws of the U.S.", http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/sedition/

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[ 1 ]. The Alien and Sedition Acts from 1798, from Folwell's "Laws of the U.S.", http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/sedition/
[ 2 ]. Manifest of Immigrants Act of March 2, 1819 (3 Stat. 489) US Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues pg. 20
[ 3 ]. Manifest of Immigrants Act of March 2, 1819 (3 Stat. 489) pg. 20
[ 4 ]. Boston Recorder (1830-1849), Irish Immigrants.: What Shall Be Done For Them. May 1, 1835
[ 5 ]. The Illustrated London News, The Tide of Emigration to the United States and to the British Colonies, July 6, 1850
[ 6 ]. Cohen, Bruce Hanlan, James P. "Contract Labor Act (1864)." In Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor. Santa Barbara: ABC CLIO ,2004. http://search.credoreference.com.proxy.libraries.uc.edu/content/entry/abcamlabor/contract_labor_act_1864/0 (accessed April 19, 2014.)
[ 7 ]. Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts, Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. http://history.state.gov/milestones/1866-1898/chinese-immigration
[ 8 ]. Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts
[ 9 ]. Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts
[ 10 ]. Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts
[ 11 ]. Chinese Immigration and the Chinese Exclusion Acts
[ 12 ]. “Ellis Island History”, The National Park Service, http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_history.asp
[ 13 ]. “Ellis Island History”
[ 14 ]. “Ellis Island History”
[ 15 ]. “Ellis Island History”
[ 16 ]. “Ellis Island History”
[ 17 ]. “Ellis Island History”
[ 18 ]. “Angel Island: A Brief History of the US Immigration Station” http://www.angelisland.com/united_states_immigration_station/usis_history.php
[ 19 ]. “Angel Island: A Brief History of the US Immigration Station”
[ 20 ]. “Ellis Island History”
[ 21 ]. Howard Bromberg, “Immigration Act of 1917 The Law: Federal law imposing major new restrictions on categories of people allowed to immigrate”. Published: 14-02-2012, 11:12
[ 22 ]. Document 63: Act of February 5, 1917: Immigration Act of 1917, Regulation the Immigration of Aliens to and Residence of Aliens in the United State. (39 Stat. 874; 8 U.S.C.) US Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues pg.109-112
[ 23 ]. Howard Bromberg, “Immigration Act of 1917 The Law: Federal law imposing major new restrictions on categories of people allowed to immigrate”
[ 24 ]. 1921 Emergency Quota Law (An act to limit the immigration of aliens into the United States)H.R. 4075; Pub.L. 67-5; 42 Stat. 5. 67th Congress; May 19, 1921. http://library.uwb.edu/guides/USimmigration/1921_emergency_quota_law.html
[ 25 ]. Mae Ngai. Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America. Princeton University Press. 2004. pp.264
[ 26 ]. 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, a.k.a. the Hart-Cellar Act (An Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act, and for other purposes)H.R. 2580; Pub.L. 89-236; 79 Stat. 911.89th Congress; October 3, 1965.