Immigration

Old Immigrants arrived in the United States between 1820 - 1860.  Most of whom arrived from Ireland (largely because of the Irish potato famine) and western Europe such as England and France.  By far, the largest immigrant group was the Irish with about 1.9 million arrivals.  The Irish are unique because their immigration continued into the 20th century.  Their immigration patterns lasted almost 100 years.  By 1900, more Irish lived outside of Ireland than in it.  That will continue to be the reality until about 1960.  

The New Immigrants arrived between 1870 - 1900 from Central and Eastern Europe primarily from Germany, Italy, and Russia.  They emmigrated (left their home country) mostly because of domestic instability - there were civil wars in both Germany and Italy at the time (called the Unification Period in European History).  In Russia, the Czars Alexander II and Nicholas II, instituted oppressive policies (Nicholas was sometimes called "Nicholas the Bloody").