Factories, cities and new immigrants in the North
Grade 8 Social Studies Worksheet
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Where immigrants came from, and what the counts leave out (cards A to C, from the Preliminary Report on the Eighth Census, published in 1862 by the Census Office for Congress). Card A (spacing modernized; cuts marked): "Next in magnitude is the migration from Germany, amounting to 1,486,044 by our custom-house returns; the next is that from France, 208,063;" The report counts 2,750,874 arrivals from Great Britain and Ireland together (its total for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and 5,062,414 arrivals in all, from October 1819 to 1860. It says laborers were the largest group of arriving passengers, followed by farmers, mechanics and merchants. It says customs houses have recorded arrivals by act of Congress since 1819, that the first ten or twelve years may have gaps, and that later reports are considered reliable. For 1790 to 1820 it uses rough estimates: about 50,000 arrivals in 1790 to 1800, about 70,000 in 1800 to 1810 and about 114,000 in 1810 to 1820. Card B, a summary in our words: British official sources count 3,048,206 people leaving for the United States in the 46 years from 1815 to 1860, more than the report's 2,750,874. The report says the gap is partly about 55,000 people who left in 1815 to 1819, before U.S. counting began, and chiefly people who entered by way of Canada and so were not counted at U.S. customs houses. Card C, a summary in our words: for the five years 1855 to 1860 the report lists 849,790 foreign-born passengers, and 781,696 of them told officials they meant to live in the United States. It adds that figures on second passages and on emigrants going on to Canada indicate that the count of foreign-born passengers should be reduced by 14.5 percent to find the number of actual settlers.
Card B says British sources count more people leaving for the United States than the U.S. report counts arriving from Great Britain and Ireland. Which explanation is best supported, Ari asks?
- Britain's count must be right because it is official, so the U.S. report should be corrected
- British officials counted people leaving for any country, not just for the United States
- The U.S. report also counted people arriving in the 1860s, which British sources left out
- U.S. counting began later, in 1819, and it missed people who entered by way of Canada
Card A counts 1,486,044 arrivals from Germany and 208,063 from France. About how many times as many came from Germany, Bo asks?
- About three times as many
- About the same number
- About seven times as many
- About seventy times as many
Card C says 849,790 foreign-born passengers arrived and 781,696 meant to live in the United States. About what share meant to stay, Esme asks?
- About 92 percent
- The entire group, since the report counted settlers alone
- About 78 percent
- About 0.9 percent
A student writes: "The report shows the Irish were the largest group of immigrants." How strong is that claim, given card A, Jun asks?
- Strong: 2,750,874 is the biggest figure in card A, so the Irish must have been the largest group
- Weak: Germany's figure is larger than the figure for Great Britain and Ireland in card A
- Weak: card A's figure covers Great Britain and Ireland together, so it cannot show the Irish
- Strong: card A says most of the 2,750,874 arrivals from Great Britain and Ireland were Irish
Card A's counts come from customs houses. What do customs-house returns count best, Luz asks?
- Why each person left home and what they hoped to find in America
- Where immigrants lived in 1860 once they had settled in the country
- How many stayed their whole lives in the United States after they arrived
- People arriving at U.S. ports, but not where they went or whether they stayed
A student says: "Nine in ten told officials they meant to stay, so nine in ten stayed." How strong is that claim, given card C, Milo asks?
- Strong: card C says the count was exact, so nine in ten is the true share
- Weak: card C says no one stayed, since the passengers moved on to Canada
- Overstated: card C shows intentions, and it says the settler count is lower still
- Strong: card C shows what they did, so nine in ten really did stay for life
A student writes: "The British figure of 3,048,206 proves the U.S. report is unreliable." How strong is that claim, given card B, Noah asks?
- Weak: card B says Britain did not count anyone, so its figure cannot be compared
- Strong: any gap between two counts shows that one of the counts is wrong
- Overstated: card B explains the gap, so the counts measure different things
- Weak: card B says the two figures are identical, so there is no gap to explain
Which source would best show why German emigrants chose to leave in these years, Pia asks?
- A map of European ports
- Customs-house lists of the arrivals at each port
- A later textbook that summarizes the migration for students
- Letters and diaries by German emigrants from the time
Card C deducts 14.5 percent for transient passengers. Why might a census office want actual settlers rather than arrivals, Tala asks?
- Because population and labor counts depend on who stayed, not who passed through
- Because arrivals are not recorded anywhere, so just settlers can be counted
- Because Canada requires the U.S. to count settlers who cross the border by land
- Because settlers pay for the voyage, so the office gets money from their fares
Cards B and C both separate arrivals from settlers or routes. What do they show about the report's method, Zee asks?
- It ignores British figures altogether, since they cover a different set of years
- It has no information about Canada, so it cannot say anything about the route
- It adjusts raw counts for known gaps, but admits it cannot measure all of them
- It treats every arrival as a settler, with no adjustments made for any gaps