The Contributions of Immigrants to the United States

While a large number of the authors who have written on the contributions of immigrants have been filiopietists, focusing on the achievements of their ancestors or the members of their ancestral ethnic group, there are many other authors who have reacted against this strain of scholarship. These authors, while acknowledging the fact that the immigrants contributed much to the development of America, treat the various ethnic groups more equally, and generally try to refrain from over-exuberant praise of the immigrants. Despite their best intentions, however, some of these authors do fall into the trap of focusing on the contributions of the well-known immigrants, and thus disregard what has been done by the masses of the immigrants.

It is interesting to consider, first of all, the historical acknowledgment of the contributions of immigrants. Prior to the Civil War, there was little official encouragement or discouragement of immigration by the national government. However, Moquin notes that "[d]uring Lincoln's administration, it became national policy for the first time to encourage immigrants to come to America," (Moquin, p. 1) a fact which suggests that the immigrants were being recognized as a valuable asset. In a Congressional Report from 1868, it was stated that "[t]he rapid growth and prosperity of the country greatly depends upon foreign emigration." (Moquin, p. 56) Furthermore, the authors of this report believed that immigrants would aid in the American dream of "making this republic the freest and most powerful empire of the world." (Moquin, p. 59) The government was correct in assuming that immigrants would make great contributions to America, although they were possibly a bit late in coming to this realization. Clearly, immigrants had been making contributions to the country from the earliest days of European settlement, but it was not until the period of mass immigration was well under way that the government publicly acknowledged the benefits which the presence of immigrants had brought.

The American population, of course, was not always in agreement on whether or not the immigrants were truly making contributions, however. In 1891, Francis A. Walker, a well-respected statistician, asserted that "the immigrants had not really added to the population. Instead ... the newcomers had merely driven down the birth rate of the native[-born] Americans and had thus replaced a superior with an inferior racial stock." (Handlin, p. 71) Walker believed that the poor living conditions of the immigrants shocked the sensibilities of the native-born population, ostensibly discouraging them from producing offspring. Yet it was the industrial competition which the immigrants provided which most checked the population increases of the native-born Americans. In 1940, Walter Willcox, a demographer, challenged Walker's ideas suggesting that "the apparent uniformity in the rates of growth before 1850, upon which Walker rested his theory, disappears as soon as the different parts of the country are studied separately." (Handlin, p. 75) Thus although the natural increase in population was, according to Walker's study, uniform all over the country, this figure was only an average derived from the many sections of the country. Taken separately, it was clear that in each individual section of the country, the rate of population increase was hardly uniform.

While few presidents seem to have taken it upon themselves to examine the issue of immigration, Harry S. Truman appointed a Commission on Immigration and Naturalization in 1953 to study the issue. The findings of this commission revealed the positive impact of the immigrants by focusing on the negative impact to which the restriction of immigration had contributed. In their report, Truman's Commission suggests that the restrictive immigration legislation of the early 1920's was one of the contributing factors to the Great Depression. Although there was approximately a ten year lag time between the passing of this legislation and the beginning of the Great Depression, the Commission found that "a number of distinguished economists believe the restriction of immigration to have been one cause of the depression." (Handlin, p. 203) With unhindered immigration, the population of the United States would have continued to grow, allowing for more consumption of manufactured products. But since immigration had virtually ceased, and the birth rate of the inhabitants of America decreased greatly, the economy was slowed in its expansion. While not exploring a specific contribution of the immigrants, this report seems to emphasize the fact that immigration would bring more positive than negative results to the country, while immigration restriction would do the exact opposite.

Even without the statements of former presidents and their appointed commissions, it is clear that immigration has had a major impact on the history of the United States. While this impact was for both good and bad, historians have focused mainly on the benefits brought to America by successive waves of immigration. For example, Carl Wittke finds that "the grand central motif of United States history has been the impact of successive immigrant tides upon a New World environment, or the interaction of so-called 'racial,' or immigrant, characteristics with the forces of American geography." (Wittke, p. xii) But despite their leanings toward viewing immigration in a positive light, these authors are careful to spread their praise amongst all of the major immigrant groups, thus avoiding the dangers of filiopietism.

One feature of much of the writing on the contributions of the immigrants is its emphasis on specific persons. Some authors do this to the extent of mentioning only what specific persons did, to the virtual exclusion of the larger impact of an ethnic group on the field. For example, a chapter of Wittke's book, entitled "Culture in Immigrant Chests," details the contributions of particular immigrants on painting and sculpture, without explaining the ways in which these individuals or groups affected the practice of these art forms in the United States. More interesting are those authors who examine both the contributions of distinctive persons or groups, and also include the contributions which were made to the art form or endeavor as a whole.

While many of the authors focus on the 'great men' of immigrant stock, others examine the contributions of the immigrants from the bottom up, looking instead at what the masses of immigrants have donated to American life and culture. When dealing with the German immigrants, Wittke focuses on what have become their stereotypical traits - "the plain, homely virtues of perseverance, patience, thrift, and respect for authority." (Wittke, p. 187) When it came to expansion dependent on labor, it was clear that the immigrants, both Germans and other groups, were highly useful: "Given the availability of land and the necessity of conquering an empty continent, there was little dispute but that the immigrant farmer made a useful contribution to American life." (Handlin, p. 43) An excerpt from Marcus Lee Hansen's The Immigrant in American History shares this sentiment: "By nature and habit the American was restless. Undoubtedly he was destined to inherit the earth from the Atlantic to the Pacific.... Thus the immigrants were the 'fillers in'." (qtd. in Handlin, p. 46) While these statements emphasize the necessity of the immigrant in the agricultural expansion of the nation, nearly all forms of expansion were labor hungry, and therefore Americans were more than willing to accept the labor of the immigrants.

Many of the immigrants assisted in the growth of America in other ways than through the offering of their labor. Using the Germans as an example, we find that many authors still support the idea that the Germans were responsible for both the election of Lincoln to his first term and keeping Missouri in the Union, despite its secessionist leanings. Additionally, the German Forty-Eighters and Turners "contributed their fair share of radical dreamers to upset the complacency of their fellow citizens," allowing for the perpetuation and maturation of democracy. (Wandel, p. 94) Other immigrants used negative events in order to show Americans the ways in which they had improved American society. For example, in the wake of nativist attacks, "[t]he Germans tried to show scientifically and logically how valuable immigration had been to the United States in dollars and cents." (Wittke, p. 492) The economic contributions of the immigrants in particular are both extremely difficult to quantify and not always apparent, but they made up one of the significant aspects of that which immigrants brought to America.

Finally, many authors emphasize the general contributions of the immigrants. These include such things as improvements in business, music, the press, food and drink, science, education, and labor movements. Immigrants have also played important roles in nearly all of the war efforts in which the United States has engaged throughout her history. Many unique contributions can also be found, such as the German contribution of enough successful baseball players to form a full team of players, including Herman "Germany" Schaefer, famous as the first and last player to steal first base. (Wandel, pp. 77-80)

By avoiding the pitfalls of filiopietism, authors who deal with the contributions of immigrants do a great service to both their readers and the immigrants themselves. While praise for the many contributions of the immigrants is certainly deserved, it is unnecessary to laud specific groups to the exclusion of all others. Every major immigrant group which has come to the United States has contributed in their own individual way to the growth and continuance of this country, and all deserve the same amount of praise for that which they have done.

Works Cited:
Handlin, Oscar. Immigration as a Factor in American History. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1959.

Moquin, Wayne, ed. Makers of America. Vol. 3, Seekers after Freedom, 1849-1870. n.p.: William Benton, Publisher, 1971.

Wandel, Joseph. The German Dimension of American History. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979.

Wittke, Carl. We Who Built America: The Saga of the Immigrant. Cleveland: The Press of Western Reserve University, 1939.