While we think of the Reconstruction Era as a time of change and reaction in the South, the North was also being remade. Immigration spiked after the Civil War. The Charleston Daily News reprinted an article from the New York Post describing the diversity of immigration to America’s largest city.
Before the Civil War, two-thirds of immigrants were German or Irish. During Reconstruction the first large waves of Scandinavians came and immigration increased from Eastern and Southern Europe.
At the time, there were virtually no restrictions on immigration and no Federal immigration service to exclude new arrivals. Immigrant ships typically docked on New York’s South Street and were taken to the State of New York’s arrival station at Castle Clinton (also known as “Castle Garden”), a place commonly called “The Battery” today.
Charleston daily news
Wednesday, Jun 16, 1869
Charleston, SC
Vol: 7
Page: 2
