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Title: Immigration and the American industrial revolution from 1880 to 1920

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: In this study, we measure the contribution of immigrants and their descendents to thegrowth and industrial transformation of the American workforce in the age of mass immigrationfrom 1880 to 1920. The size and selectivity of the immigrant community, as well astheir disproportionate residence in large cities, meant they were the mainstay of the Americanindustrial workforce. Immigrants and their children comprised over half of manufacturingworkers in 1920, and if the third generation (the grandchildren of immigrants) areincluded, then more than two-thirds of workers in the manufacturing sector were of recentimmigrant stock. Although higher wages and better working conditions might haveencouraged more long-resident native-born workers to the industrial economy, the scaleand pace of the American industrial revolution might well have slowed. The closing ofthe door to mass immigration in the 1920s did lead to increased recruitment of native bornworkers, particularly from the South, to northern industrial cities in the middle decades ofthe 20th century.

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Authors: Mogford, Elizabeth; Hirschman, Charles

Periodical (Full): Social science research

Issue: 4

Volume: 38

Pages: 897-920

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Migration and Immigration, Other

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