Daily Life in Immigrant America, 1820-1870: How the First Great Wave of Immigrants Made Their Way in America

Early-nineteenth-century America experienced the first "wave" of immigration after Independence, when Germans, Irish, English, Scandinavians, and, on the West Coast, even Chinese began to arrive in significant numbers. These new settlers had a profound impact on such national developments as westward expansion, urban growth, industrialization, city and national politics, and the Civil War.

James M. Bergquist's chronicle of the early immigrants' experiences describes where they came from, wha...