Immigration is the voluntary movement of people from one country to another, usually with the aim of permanent settlement in the adopted country. If the people who are fleeing their country because of an immediate threat to there health then they are considered refugees because they seek refuge in another country. Immigration is a human form of migration. Migration is as old as the first human group. One example is tribes would hunt in groups or pacts. When the hunt would move they would move. The tribe will move wherever they have to so that they can survive. Even now people immigrate. It might be because of war or as a result of a bad government, but whatever the reason immigration will never stop as long as one country has a better place.
Major Immigration Groups.
There are four major immigration groups that I know of that comes to mind. There was the Non-English immigration, the Great Wave, the New European immigration, and the Asian immigration. These immigrants were the biggest groups of immigrants to migrate.
The Non-English immigrants were the original settlers. The Germans, Swiss, Dutch, Scotch-Irish, Small numbers of French Protestants, and Scandinavians, followed them. A small community of Jews originally settled in a small place called New Amsterdam (now known as New York). In 1763 the population of New York had grown to be around 2.5 million people. The Non-English and black slaves made up one third of the population.
Once the American Revolution started the immigration slowed down. The wars happening in Europe also made travel to America difficult. Immigration gradually increased when the restoration of peace was beginning in 1815. It wasn't until the 1820's when America first began keeping an accurate count on how many immigrants arrived each year.
Another Great Wave of immigration appeared to America in the mid 1800's. In a matter of ten years from 1845 to 1855 1.