Time Charts

The chart below has been created to help you determine which time period your ancestor may have arrived in the United States.

  • Colonial Period (late 1500's to 1776)

    Spanish, French, English, African, Dutch, German, Welsh, Finnish, Scottish, and Scotch-Irish

  • 1776 to 1820:

    The same groups as the colonial period but in decreasing numbers. This was due to international wars and immigration restrictions.

  • 1820 to 1880:

    Catholic Irish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, German, Chinese, Japanese, and French Canadians.

  • 1880 to 1920:

    Italian, Polish, Austrian, Czech, Slovak, Yugoslav, Romanian, Russian, Hungarian, Armenian, Greek, Arabs, Jews, and Japanese.

  • 1920 to 1945:

    German, Italian, Polish, Czech (especially between 1921 and 1930); British (which includes: English, Scottish, and Welsh) and Irish; Canadian and Mexican; and refugees from Nazi Germany. In 1915 immigration once again declined due to the restrictions ( which included literacy tests). Migration was most common in the 1920's.

  • Post-World War II:

    Mexican, Central and South American, Caribbean, Korean, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Middle Eastern Arab, and Soviet Jewish.

    NOTE: During most of the periods immigration from Canada was high and included many British and other European migrants.

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    Thanks to Graphics by Carla for making the creation of this page possible.