Migration from Europe to the US 1820-1957

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the majority of documented migration to the United States of American came from European countries. Between 1820 and 1957, of the approximate 41 million migrants to the US, over 34 million of these came from Europe. The most commonly documented countries of origin during this time were Germany (6.6 million), Italy (4.9 million), Ireland (4.6 million), Great Britain (4.5 million), and Russia (3.4 million). The first wave of mass migration came in the 1850s, as the Great famine crippled Ireland's population, and many in rural areas of mainland Europe struggled to adapt to industrialization, and economic opportunities attracted many in the 1870s, following the American Civil War. The 1880s saw another wave, as steam powered ships and lower fares made trans-Atlantic journeys much more affordable. The first wave of mass migration from Eastern and Southern Europe also arrived at this time, as industrialization and agricultural advancements led to high unemployment in these regions.The majority of migrants to the United States settled in major urban centers, which allowed the expansion of industry, leading to the United States' emergence as one of the leading global economies at the turn of the twentieth century. The largest wave of migration to the United states during this period came in the first fifteen years of the 1900s. The influx of migrants from Northern and Western Europe had now been replaced by an influx from Eastern and Southern Europe (although migration from the British Isles was still quite high during this time). European migration fell to it's lowest levels in eighty years during the First World War, before fluctuating again in the interwar period, due to the Great Depression. As the twentieth century progressed, the continent with the highest levels of migration to the US gradually changed from Europe to Latin America, as economic opportunities in Western Europe improved, and the US' relationship with the Soviet Union and other Eastern, communist states became complicated.

在十九世纪与二十世纪期间，记录在美国的移民中，绝大多数源自欧洲国家。自1820年至1957年，大约4100万移民中，超过3400万来自欧洲。在此期间，最常记录的移民来源国家依次为德国（660万）、意大利（490万）、爱尔兰（460万）、大不列颠（450万）以及俄罗斯（340万）。第一次大规模移民浪潮出现在19世纪50年代，当时爱尔兰的大饥荒削弱了其人口，而欧洲大陆农村地区的人们努力适应工业化，以及1870年代美国内战后的经济机遇吸引了众多移民。1880年代又出现了一波移民潮，蒸汽动力船只和降低的船票使得横渡大西洋的旅程变得更加经济实惠。来自东欧和南欧的第一次大规模移民也正是在这一时期到来，因为工业化和农业的进步导致了这些地区的高失业率。移往美国的移民大多数定居在主要城市中心，这促进了工业的扩展，使得美国在20世纪初成为世界领先的全球经济之一。在这一时期，最大规模的移民浪潮出现在20世纪初的前十五年。从北欧和西欧的移民涌入已被来自东欧和南欧的移民所取代（尽管在此期间，来自不列颠群岛的移民仍然相当高）。第一次世界大战期间，欧洲移民降至八十年来最低水平，随后在战间期因大萧条而再次波动。随着20世纪的推进，向美国移民水平最高的洲逐渐从欧洲转变为拉丁美洲，因为西欧的经济机遇改善，以及美国与苏联及其他东欧共产主义国家的关系变得复杂。