The United States was home to a little more than five million people in 1800. What was the approximate population 100 years later?

The U.S. experienced astounding population growth during the 19th century due to the massive influx of European immigrants. The first wave (approximately 1820 to 1870) were mostly English, German, or Scandinavian. Largely English-speaking, literate, and Protestant, these newcomers assimilated into American society with relative ease. The second wave of new arrivals came mostly from southern and eastern Europe — Italians, Greeks, Poles, and Russians — as well as China. Poorer, less likely to speak English, and largely Catholic, Orthodox, or Jewish, these later immigrants found assimilation more challenging and tended to stick together in insular communities. As diseases and other problems of increased urbanization increased, many Americans began to blame immigrants; facing growing pressure, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1882, the first significant regulation aimed at restricting immigration in American history.

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