US Immigration History

Introduction
Millions of immigrants have entered the United States, most arriving in the 18th and 19th centuries. Immigration to the United States was relatively until the mid 19th century, when the government began encouraging immigration to help settle the west.

History
Prior to 1890, individual states (rather than the federal government) regulated immigration into the United States. These regulation efforts were varied and inconsistent. Castle Garden was the first immigration station in the United States and was opened in 1855. In 1890, the federal government took official control of immigration and built a large immigration center on Ellis Island.

Castle Garden
On August 1, 1855, the New York opened the first official immigrant receiving station in New York City. It functioned as an immigrant processing center and was the first of its kind in the United States. Castle Gardens operated as an Emigrant Landing Depot until April 18, 1890, when the United States government assumed control of immigrant processing. In total, the center processed approximately 8 million immigrants (mostly from northern and western Europe).

Records from Castle Garden can be found at www.castlegarden.org. Records (numbering around 11 million) range from 1820 to 1892.

Ellis Island
Ellis Island was designated as the site for the new immigrant screen station in 1890 in part because Castle Garden could no longer handle the flow of immigrants. On January 1, 1892, Ellis Island opened in the New York Bay. Ellis Island operated as the United States' official immigrant inspection station until 1954. The station was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants who entered into the United States.

Records from Ellis Island can be found at www.libertyellisfoundation.org. Records (numbering around 51 million) range from 1820 to 1957.

Statistics
The United States is a nation of immigrants of which a majority came from Europe. Between 1820 and 1974, 46,712,725 immigrants entered the United States; 76.8% of these immigrants were Europeans.

The following chart documents the number of European immigrants, their country of origin, and what percentage they were of all European immigrants:

The following chart documents the number of immigrants from non-European countries and their country of origin: