practically unimportant. 20 The tables on pages 21 and 22and the graphic representation on page23make plain the relative importance of each nationality during this period. The British Americans averaged from one to three thousand annually, the war appreciably reducing the number of this nationality. The English form a slightly smaller proportion of the total number. This period, as the chart shows, is preeminently one of Irish immigration. In 1845 the Irish numbered 4,690; in 1847, 21, 829; and in 1849 Celtic arrivals reached the highest figure, 22,441. But this enormous stream of immigration did not continue; by 1855 it had fallen to 6,724, and in 1860 it numbered but 3,492 (1). It is evident that the total increase in immigration was due almost entirely to the steady depopulation of Ireland during this period. The Irish famines of 1845 and 1847, together with the prevalent economic and political dissatisfaction among the people of the Celtic isle were the immediate causes of the phenomenal rise in their migration to the United States, which was especially large in the years (1) Ford, Hist. of Clinton, pp.506, 507. Table of Immigrants arriving at the Port of Boston, 1845-1865. Place of Total birth 1845(1) -46 (2) -47 (2) -48 8,550 15,504 24,245 20,711 -49 29,518 |