Early 20th Century Immigration Movement"Here is not simply a nation, but a teeming nation of nations." - Walt Whitman People have been immigrating to the United States forever since European settlers first founded the nation. The first immigrants were white European settlers who arrived for a variety of different reasons, such as freedom of religion and job opportunities. Waves of immigrants poured into the United States until restrictions were put in place in the 1920s, largely for cultural and economic reasons. Many saw immigration as the only way to prevent starvation, extreme suffering, and death. The United States has become a safe haven and melting pot of many different cultures and nationalities. However, it was not easy being an immigrant, as they faced a lot of racism, religious persecution, and xenia phobia from Americans. Sensing this, they often banded closely together, settling with their own kind and forming their own close-knit communities where they established their businesses primarily to serve themselves. Italians and Jews were two such groups in the early 20th century who felt this racism a lot, as seen in Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury. At that time, most immigrants were Italians, Russian Jews and Eastern Europeans, Greeks, Slavs and Armenians. Before 1870 there was little Italian immigration to the United States. However, soon after, many began fleeing the low wages and high taxes of rural Italy to seek a more prosperous income in American cities. Many Italian settlements arose in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, and Detroit. During World War II, it is said that there were more people of Italian descent living in New York City than we...... middle of paper... kings to immigrate to America, we were already not well represented in the population . However, in 1924, the quota was expanded to allow entry of Northern and Western Europeans, but to exclude almost everyone else. President Coolidge is quoted as saying, "America must remain American" as he signed the Quota Act of 1924. This fear and ideology echoed throughout American society in the early 20th century. Useful statistics and an informative timeline for the history of immigration to the United States can be found here: http://www.closeup.org/immigrat.htm#timelineThis website contains much in-depth information about Italians, Jews, and many others nationalities immigrating to the United States. It also contains a lot of information about restrictions and laws enacted against immigrants. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook28.html