When America Welcomed Immigrants

Jason H. Silverman is the Ellison Capers Palmer Jr. Professor of History Emeritus at Winthrop University. An award-winning teacher and author or editor of eleven previous books, his current book project is Lincoln's Magician: Harry Cooke and His Relationship with the Sixteenth President.

This is the long-neglected story of Lincoln's signature act to ensure that immigrants would always be welcome on the shores of America and that the country's labor force would remain productive and plenty in the face of a seemingly relentless war which deprived America of hundreds of thousands of its laborers.Believing that immigration was the "great replenishing stream," Lincoln believed that anyone risking the journey to America deserved the opportunity to better themselves.
To accomplish this, Lincoln persevered over nativism, xenophobia, and intense political opposition to see his law passed.
Although he didn't live to see the industrial revolution of the late nineteenth century and the millions of immigrants who fled to the shores of America seeking a better life, Lincoln's economic philosophy, his compassion, and his Act to Encourage Immigration paved the way for the future.