The first immigrants to what is now the US were refugees from Europe seeking religious freedom and attracted to the resources reported to be in North America. They braved the dangers of sea travel and settled in New England in what is now Virginia that became a British Colony in the 1600s. They were able to own land. In Europe only the Royals owned land. The word got out and by 1700 they grew to 13 British Colonies with a population of 260,000. By 1750 the population of the 13 British Colonies was 1.5 million.
The French Colonies were in what is now Canada and extended into what became the Louisiana Territories.
The British Colonists served along-side of the British Army and won the French and Indian War in 1763.
From Massachusetts in the north to Georgia in the south, the colonies ran along 1,000 miles of coastline and covered an area of over 430,000 square miles.
In the resulting Treaty of Paris (1763), Great Britain secured significant territorial gains in North America, including all French territory east of the Mississippi river, as well as Spanish Florida, although the treaty returned Cuba to Spain.
By 1775 the population of the 13 Colonies was 2.5 million colonists and 500,000 slaves. The four largest American colonies were Virginia (447,016), Pennsylvania (240,057), Massachusetts (235,308), and Maryland (202,599).
The American Revolution
began in 1775 and ended with the US victory at Yorktown in 1781. The US
conducted negotiations with Britain from 1781 to 1783 to address all issues and
this expanded to include agreements by Britain with Spain and France.
https://www.nps.gov/york/learn/historyculture/after-yorktown.htm
The Treaty of Paris was signed by U.S. and British Representatives on September 3, 1783, ending the War of the American Revolution. The last group of British soldiers left Manhattan in 1783.
The US Congress met to write the US Constitution from 1783 to 1787 and added the Bill of Rights by 1789. The States ratified the Constitution in 1789 and elected George Washington as the first President.
In 1800 the US population was 5,308,483 people including 893,602 slaves. The population increased from 3 million in 1775 to 5.3 million in 1800. More immigration from Europe accounted for most of the 2 million population gain. Tariffs on imports funded the new US government.
The US needed immigrants to build canals, roads and ports. European farmers came to own their own land.
The original Colonies had established the US as a recognized government in 1789 and the original colonies ratified the US Constitution in 1789. The process for becoming a State was separate and included a vote of citizens of States and ratification. This ensured that States got a chance to have their experts review interstate commerce and other laws before they applied. By 1803, there were 17 States.
Territories applied for
Statehood beginning in 1787
States Admitted
Delaware 1787
Pennsylvania 1787
New Jersey 1787
Georgia 1788
Connecticut 1788
Massachusetts 1788
Maryland 1788
S Carolina 1788
N Hampshire 1788
Virginia 1788
New York 1788
N Carolina 1789
Rhode Island 1790
Vermont 1791
Kentucky 1792
Tennessee 1796
Ohio 1803
In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million. The Louisiana Purchase encompassed 530,000,000 acres of land.
British ships had been kidnapping US sailors. This caused the US to declare war again on Britain.
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States declared war on Britain on 18 June 1812. Although peace terms were agreed upon in the December 1814 Treaty of Ghent, the war did not officially end until the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Congress on 17 February 1815.
By 1830, the US population was
12,866,020. In 1800 it was 5.308,483. It doubled
In 1803 there were 17 States.
In 1845 there were 27 States.
New States included
State Admitted
Louisiana 1812
Indiana 1816
Mississippi 1817
Illinois 1818
Alabama 1819
Maine 1820
Missouri 1821
Arkansas 1836
Michigan 1837
Florida 1845
On May 12, 1846, the United States Senate voted 40 to 2 to go to war with Mexico. President James K. Polk had accused Mexican troops of having attacked Americans on U.S. soil.
The Mexican American War began in 1846 and ended in 1848. Mexico ceded nearly all the territory now included in the U.S. states of New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California, Texas, and western Colorado for $15 million and U.S. assumption of its citizens' claims against Mexico. This completed the plan to secure the US from invasion by establishing its east and west borders with oceans.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, that brought an official end to the Mexican-American War (1846-1848),
By 1850 there were 31 States
State Admitted
Texas 1845
Iowa 1846
Wisconsin 1848
California 1850
The US Population in 1850 was 23,191,876. It had doubled since 1830.
The US continued to need immigrants to continue to occupy the Louisiana Territory plus Western Territories to protect the land from reinvasion by Britain and incursion from Mexico.
Between 1845-52 Ireland suffered a period of starvation, disease and emigration that became known as the Great Famine. The potato crop, upon which a third of Ireland's population was dependent for food, was infected by a disease destroying the crop.
By 1860, the US Population had reached 31,443,321.
The US continued to need immigrants to complete the occupation of US citizens to the land acquired in 1803 and 1848. There were still canals, dams, bridges and railroads to build There was also a Civil War to fight from 1860 to 1865.
The US had already entered the Industrial Revolution that had started in Briton with steam power. Factories were being built in US cities.
By 1900 the US population had reached 76.3 million.
World War I began in 1914 in Europe and the US joined the Allies in 1917. We continued to accept immigrants who had sponsors and could become self-supporting.
In 1929, the Stock Market Crash started the Great Depression and the Drought that caused to Dust Bolw that ran from 1930 to 1939.
US Unemployment rose to over 25% and Immigration slowed. The 1930s was the beginning of the end of large-scale immigration.
An additional 19 States were admitted from 1850 to present and the goal of attracting immigrants had been accomplished.
Immigration for some time has been the “Brain Drain”. We will continue to immigrate those with the skills we need using the Corporate sponsorship of H1b visa system. The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in 1886 as a gift from France to recognize the US for the immigration that was allowed and occurred from 1800 to 1900. We did need your tired and poor from 1800 to 1900 as inscribed on the Plaque that reads:
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!“
I would prefer that we keep this Plaque as a marker of US history, but the wording is no longer valid.
European immigration to the US cemented the relationship between these two continents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_by_date_of_admission_to_the_Union
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea
Party Leader
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