Digital History

Pre-Civil War Society

Digital History ID 3839

Interpreting Statistics

Immigration as a Source of Population Increase

Year Percent of Total Population Increase

1820s 4 percent

1830s 13 percent

1840s 23 percent

1850s 34 percent

1860s 25 percent

1870s 27 percent

1880s 41 percent

1890s 28 percent

Immigration to the U.S.
Year	Number	Percentage of Composition
Year	Number	Irish	English	German
1820	8,385
1830	23,322
1840	84,066	47	10	35
1850	369,980	44	14	21
1860	153,640	32	19	35

Questions To Think About

1. During which decades was immigration the greatest source of population increase?

2. Where did most pre-Civil War immigrants come from?