Immigration, Nativism, and Legal Transformation in 19th Century America

Immigration in the 1850s

Sources of Immigration

In the 1850s, immigration to the United States included:
- Irish: 44% (162,800)
- German: 21% (77,700)
- English: 14% (51,800)
- Other: 21% (77,700)

Irish Immigration

Many Irish families replaced local farm women in Lowell textile mills by the late 1850s.
Most Irish immigrants settled in the Northeast, particularly in overcrowded urban neighborhoods in cities like Boston and New York.
These neighborhoods were known for poverty, crime, and disease.

German Immigration

Germans were the second-largest group of immigrants and included many skilled workers.
Like the Irish, Germans settled in tight-knit communities in eastern cities, but many moved westward to become craftsmen, shopkeepers, and farmers.
The cities of Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Milwaukee formed the "German triangle," where large German populations settled.
These areas developed a lively German culture with schools, newspapers, organizations, and churches.
A section of New York City was called Kleindeutschland (Little Germany).

Other Immigrant Groups

Around 40,000 Scandinavians also came to the United States during this time, mostly settling on farms in the Old Northwest.
Many English workers also moved to the U.S. due to the growth of industry and the failure of the Chartist movement in Britain, which aimed to make the government more democratic.

The Rise of Nativism

While immigrants from England were easily accepted, those from Ireland faced severe hostility.
As Roman Catholics in a mostly Protestant society, the Irish encountered discrimination fueled by longstanding anti-Catholic sentiments.
The large number of Irish immigrants increased the visibility and influence of the Catholic Church in America, which had previously been minor.
During the 1840s and 1850s, Archbishop John Hughes of New York City strengthened the Church's role, urging Catholic parents to enroll their children in expanding parochial schools and seeking government funding to support them. He also worked hard to convert Protestants to Catholicism.
The idea of the United States as a refuge for those seeking economic opportunity or as an escape from oppression has always coexisted with suspicion of and hostility to foreign newcomers.
Throughout American history, there have been periods of intense anxiety about immigration.
For example, the Alien Act of 1798 was born from fears of immigrants with radical political views. In the early 1900s, hostility grew towards the "new immigration" from southern and eastern Europe. Even in the early 21st century, debates over how many people should be allowed to enter the U.S. and under what conditions continue to spark political tension.
The arrival of large numbers of Irish immigrants in the 1840s and 1850s alarmed many native-born Americans.

Nativist Sentiments and Actions

Those concerned about the effects of immigration on American society were called "nativists."
Nativists blamed immigrants for urban crime, political corruption, and a fondness for alcohol.
They accused immigrants of driving down wages by accepting low-paying jobs.
The Irish quickly became involved in the Democratic Party's urban political machines, which offered jobs and assistance to struggling newcomers.
Nativists claimed that the Irish, who they believed did not understand American freedoms and were controlled by the Catholic Church, posed a threat to democracy, social reform, and public education.
Stereotypes about the Irish portrayed them as childlike, lazy, and unable to handle freedom, similar to those aimed at Black Americans.
Nativism did not turn into a national political movement until the 1850s, but in the 1840s, cities like New York and Philadelphia experienced violent anti-immigrant riots.
In 1844, a nativist candidate was elected mayor of New York City, appealing mainly to skilled native-born workers who feared that immigrants were taking their jobs and lowering their wages.

Transformation of Law and the Market Revolution

American law increasingly supported entrepreneurs in joining the market revolution, protecting them from interference by local governments and liability for some of the negative effects of economic growth.
The corporate business model became crucial to this new market economy.
Corporations receive special privileges and powers through a charter from the government, which means that investors and directors are not personally responsible for the company's debts.
Unlike businesses owned by individuals, families, or limited partnerships, a corporation can fail without financially ruining its directors and stockholders.
Because of this, corporations could raise significantly more capital than traditional business structures.
By the 1830s, many states had moved from granting charters through specific laws to adopting "general incorporation laws," which allowed any company to obtain a corporate charter by paying a specified fee.

Court Decisions and Corporate Privileges

Many Americans were suspicious of corporate charters, seeing them as special privileges granted by the government.
However, courts upheld their legitimacy and resisted attempts by established companies to limit competition from new entrants.
Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819): John Marshall's Supreme Court ruled that corporate charters issued by state legislatures were contracts that future lawmakers could not change or cancel.
Gibbons v. Ogden: The Court invalidated a monopoly that the New York legislature had granted for steamboat navigation.
In 1837, under Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the Court decided that the Massachusetts legislature did not violate the charter of an existing company when it allowed a second company to build a competing bridge over the Charles River. Taney stated that the community had a legitimate interest in improving transportation and economic growth.
Meanwhile, local judges often found business owners not responsible for property damage caused by factory construction, such as flooding farmland upstream or disrupting fishing due to dams built to harness water power.
Many court rulings also supported employers' complete control over the workplace and used old common law about conspiracy to penalize workers who tried to strike for higher wages.
Commonwealth v. Hunt (1842): Massachusetts Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled that workers organizing a union or going on strike was not inherently illegal.
Changes in labor laws and practices reflected the observation of Horace Bushnell, a Connecticut minister, who noted that the market economy had caused a "complete revolution" in Americans' "life and manners."

Key Concepts

The United States began to develop a modern democracy and celebrated a new national culture, while Americans sought to define the nation's democratic ideals and change their society and institutions to match them.
While Americans embraced a new national culture, various groups developed distinctive cultures of their own.
Explain the causes for the rise of reform movements during the early to mid 1800s.
Explain the causes for the Second Great Awakening.
- Explain the effects of the Second Great Awakening.
Explain the effect liberal social ideas and romantic beliefs of perfectibility had upon literature, art, philosophy, and architecture.

The Reform Impulse

The Market Revolution saw a huge growth of reform movements.
About 100 reform movements were formed during the decades before the Civil War.
"In the history of the world the doctrine of reform has never such hope as at the present" - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Societies were founded for a number of reasons, including:
- Preventing manufacturing of liquor, public entertainment, delivery of mail on Sunday
- Improving prison conditions, expand public health, uplift wage laborers
- Moving from competition of market revolution to a society of cooperation