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Immigrant Ancestors

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Posted by Your Guide on July 6, 2006 9:35 PM

Over the last 350 years, almost 40 million people have immigrated to the United States. Despite the hardships and the possibility of severe illness or even death during the journey, families sold everything they had, packed a small trunk, and headed for what is now America. The appeal is still the same. The call to come and experience freedom is irresistible to so many. And for many years, people flowed across our borders unhindered.

It is estimated that over 2 million immigrants arrived in America from many different ports between 1607 (when the first immigrants arrived by boat) and 1920 (when air travel began to increase in popularity). Of those 2 million, over half came to America and were processed through the port of New York. However, there were many different ports that welcomed our immigrant ancestors, not just on the east coast, but also in the Gulf of Mexico and on the west coast.

Most of the federal records that exist have been copied, and those copies are available through the National Archives. However, many border states have additional immigration records in their state archives. Until 1875 states were free to enact their own immigration laws. Until just after the Civil War, most Americans supported free and open immigration. It wasn't until after the war that citizens began to question that policy. States that opposed open immigration began to enact their own laws and immigration policies so in 1875 the Supreme Court ruled that immigration laws are to be the jurisdiction of the federal government. American views about open immigration continued to shift until the outbreak of World War I.

As genealogists search for their immigrant ancestors, census records can be helpful to them as a clue to a person's birth place. In the 1850 census, the U.S. began documenting where each person was born. These records may or may not be accurate, but can be a huge help in locating the original country of our ancestors. With that information, it is possible to better search through the records of Ellis Island and other ports in the hope of finding information about their immigrant ancestors.



Next Page: Ellis Island and other Ports of Entry

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