Question: "Describe several reasons Europeans immigrated to the U.S. in the late1800's.....
Progressing through the 1800’s to the turn of the nineteenth century, there were dramatic social and societal changes marking a new path for the future of America. The population increased by millions as more and more immigrants sought new lifestyles to match the luxurious ones Americans were rumored to have, due to their industrial, democratic system. Through the eyes of both Americans, and those of foreign soils, America, particularly between the years 1870 to 1900, was a land of endless opportunities that seemed to constantly be growing both economically and socially. In this time, titled the Gilded Age, the population reached towering numbers as the U.S. transformed. There were clear reasons for the name historians selected as the title for the thirty year period of time between 1870 and 1900. Filling the short half of a life time mentioned, was a flood of events that helped the United …show more content…
The gap that divided the wealthy from the poor had grown to be deep and ominous. Poverty swept across Ireland as the Potato Famine took more and more lives. Starvation was a cold, hard reality of the time, and people were desperate for jobs when their crops wouldn't grow, though they were rarely available. The population was high, job openings were low, and the requirements for immigration to the United States were surprisingly reasonable. America was a land of opportunity under its democratic system, rather than the class system that many Europeans felt victimized by. Also, land was affordable, and could be attained easily. The Homestead Act of 1869 allowed citizens to acquire up to 160 acres of land for $1.25 for each acre, as long as the individual remains settled there for five years. The option of migrating to the United States was appealing in their time of struggle, to say the