From 1860 to 1900 nearly 15 million "new immigrants" came to America from the Southern and Eastern European countries of Italy, Poland, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Greece, Turkey, and Syria. Of these "new immigrants" most were single, young men with few job skills. This differed from the immigration cycle that occurred early in the 19th century until the Civil War which consisted mostly of British, Irish, and Germans; these were known as the "old immigrants". The majority of the new immigrants were farmers and unskilled laborers that were leaving their homeland in search of work. Many also left to avoid famine, disease, and overpopulation that plagued Europe. Cheaper transportation made the trip to America possible for those that were dissatisfied with the conditions in their homelands. Many settled in Northern cities close to the industrial centers where the demand for unskilled labor was high.
             Europeans were not the only immigrants to come to America in the late 19th century. Asians wanted to flee overpopulation and war that ravaged their land. As word of the gold rush in California spread, Asians immigrated to the western U.S. Although the number of Asian immigrants was drastically less than that of the Europeans, they still had a significant presence on the west coast. They worked in the most undesirable jobs including mining, railroad, and laundry work. They came alone leaving their families behind, working a promised number of years as contract workers then returning home. These immigrant workers were the backbone of the Industrial Revolution that occurred in the late 19th century, making up over 40% of the manufacturing workforce. Native-born white workers held most of the high paying skilled jobs, while skilled immigrants from Northern Europe, usually Germans, held the middle ranks, leaving low-paying, unskilled jobs for the "new immigrants." These jobs included ditch diggers, dock workers, and blast furnace workers. The majori...