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To the forty-one million immigrants who have arrived upon our shores during the past one hundred forty years, these lines indicated that the poor, hungry, and persecuted could find freedom and opportunity in the New World. They arrived in such large numbers that by the end of the nineteenth century some Americans had doubts concerning the policy of admitting unlimited numbers of immigrants. By 1921, this viewpoint was widely accepted. During the 1930s we discovered that emigration from this nation was at times larger than immigration to this nation. The history of these significant developments divides itself into the three clearly defined periods. Period of Early Immigration The period from 1790 to 1861 is considered as the period of early immigration. In 1790, one year after the new government was organized, the population of the United States was approximately 4,000,000. Of that number more than seventy-five per cent were descendants of immigrants who had sailed westward from England and northern Ireland. By 1810 there were probably 5,000 to 6,000 immigrants per year. At about 1820 the rate began to increase. By 1840 the new arrivals numbered more than 80,000 yearly. The number continued to increase until, in 1854, it reached a total of 428,000. Although many of these continued to come from Great Britain, the largest numbers were of German and Irish origin. A trickle was now apparent from Italy, Austria-Hungary , and the nations of Scandinavia. | 
