• 1845-49     Potato famine in Ireland
• 1846          Crop failures in Germany and Holland
• 1848          German revolution is put down; Germany experiences severe depression and unemployment
• 1854          End of Japanese isolation; Japan opens several ports over next few years
• 1860-69     Crop failures in Germany and Holland
• 1870s         Introduction of steamship decreases cost, time, and danger of ocean travel
• 1880-1914 Religious persecution of Jews in eastern Europe
• 1894-95     The First Sino-Japanese War; Japan defeats China
• 1900-1920 Overpopulation on southern and eastern European farms
• 1904-05     Russo-Japanese War; Japan defeats Russia
• 1905-06     Economic problems, expanding population, and epidemics in Italy
• 1910-20     Revolution in Mexico
• 1914-18     World War I
• 1917           Russian revolution

Immigration and United States History

• 1848 Gold discovered in California
• 1850 Order of “Star Spangled Banner” is founded; eventually becomes the Know-Nothing party, formed to control immigration
• 1860s Chinese immigration to work on railroads and in gold mines
• 1861-65 U.S. Civil War
• 1862 Homestead Act offers free land to citizens and immigrants who intend to become citizens
• 1865 Construction begins on transcontinental railroad
• 1877 Workingman’s party opposes immigration of Chinese laborers
• 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prevents Chinese from entering the U.S.
• 1907 “Gentlemen’s agreement” between U.S. and Japan denies passports to laborers from Japan
• 1917 U.S. Immigration Act requires immigrants to read English; excludes anarchists and those with certain diseases; excludes most Asians and Pacific Islanders
• 1919-20 “Red Scare” promotes the idea that communists are plotting to overthrow the U.S. government
• 1920-25 Ku Klux Klan resurfaces as an anti-foreign, anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic force
• 1921 Emergency Quota Act reduces the number of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe who are allowed to enter the U.S.
• 1924 Immigration Act creates a permanent quota system called the national-origins system; designed to prevent any major change in the racial and ethnic makeup of the U.S. population

Source: “The Transforming Nation”, Human Rights Watch