The Importance Of Migration To The United States

Migration to the Americans was jump started with the arrival of Europeans, who desired resources from the Americas. Unfortunately, the arrival of the Europeans decimated Native American populations and transformed the regions of settlement that the Native Americans had previously populated. European migration to the Americas increased significantly during the 1600s and 1700s. Immigrants were motivated to leave Europe by “enclosed” lands in Europe, lack of economic opportunities, political instability, discrimination, and the feudal system in Europe. Immigrants came to the Americas to gain economic opportunities, land, and religious freedom. The colonized portion of the Americas formed distinct regions: the sea-based New England colonies, the diverse …show more content…
Nationalistic ideas grew and blossomed with the Declaration of Independence, American Revolution, and the establishment of the United States as a separate entity from Great Britain. Political parties developed: the Jeffersonian Republicans that supported a strict interpretation of the Constitution, and the Federalists that supported a loose interpretation of the Constitution. In 1801, the importation of African slaves became illegal. The Transportation Revolution led to the growth of industries, which opened job opportunities. New immigrant groups began to come to the Unites States, including the Irish and Germans. Manifest Destiny, a social philosophy that put forth that God had ordained internal migration, increased westward migration in the U.S. Native Americans continued to be removed from their lands as a result of Manifest Destiny, which would factor into the Mexican-American War. Internal migration to the South and Southwest increased significantly, because of the location of plantations with labor-intensive cash crops