How important was the impact of mass immigration into the US for the expansion of the American economy in the years 1890 to 1920? [24 marks]
Immigration means the action of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. There were 9 million foreign born Americans in 1890.
Mass immigration was quite important however other factors such as the development of big business also had a great effect on the American economy. Many of the immigrants were lured to America by the dream of improving their lives. The growing US economy could offer jobs to the immigrants; many had employment within hours of arriving on American soil. Many immigrants moved to the USA to escape discrimination at home. The Immigrants did cheap labour which meant that the businesses were paying out less money for leading them to gain more profit which led to an increase in the economy. Businesses benefited by immigrants because it led to a growth in the market as there was more people to buy the goods which again led to an increase in the American economy. An addition of this is urbanisation which increased the construction in the US.
The result of the massive emigration worried many Americans. They argued that immigrants from southern and eastern Europe did not embrace American culture. They also brought with them ‘radical and dangerous’ political ideas such as communism. Many feared that the immigrants would take their jobs and would work for lower wages. Others argued that they would overwhelm local population.
The USA was already a booming industrial power by 1890. The expansion of the USA’s economy was came from this huge increase in workers and markets however the new technologies developed at this time, enabled the growth of steam ship companies and the mechanisation of industry. The invention of the steel plough, the refrigerated containers and the expansion of the railways led to