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What Tennessee's immigrant population looked like in 1900
Since the first successful English colony settled in Jamestown in 1607, flows of immigrants have arrived on American shores seeking a new life. From Irish immigrants fleeing famine to Chinese immigrants settling in California during the Gold Rush, more than 86 million people legally immigrated to the United States between 1783 and 2019.
There have been four major waves of immigration to the U.S., beginning with settlers from northern and western Europe seeking land on the frontier from 1820 to 1880. The immigrants counted in the 1900 Census hailed primarily from southern and eastern Europe, drawn by the call of industrialization in America. At the advent of the era of world wars, there was a dearth of immigration, but after 1965, individuals from Asia and Latin America began to move to the U.S. in droves.
Though the national immigrant population today and in 1900 is comparable by percentage, hovering around 14% of the overall U.S. population, the raw population tells a different story. Today, the U.S. is home to 44.7 million immigrants, whereas that number was just shy of 10.5 million at the time of the 1900 Census. Stacker compiled a list of the largest sources of immigrants in Tennessee in 1900 by transcribing a previously untranscribed dataset from the U.S. Census Bureau. Countries are ranked by total residents who were born in that country.
Immigration to the U.S. was handled at the state level prior to 1890, with each state government designating its own processes and checkpoints. New York originally used Castle Garden (now Castle Clinton) as its immigration processing hub, but within a few decades realized that a massive influx of immigrants necessitated a larger venue. Ellis Island opened on Jan. 1, 1892, to the first of more than 12 million individuals who entered the U.S. through its doors.
Keep reading to find out more about the historical immigrant community in your home state or explore the data on your own on our site, GitHub, or data.world.
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#1. Germany
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 4,569
- Percent of foreign born residents: 25.75%
- Percent of total state population: 0.23%
National
- Number of residents: 2,669,164
- Percent of foreign born residents: 25.52%
- #1 most common country of origin
FPG // Getty Images
#2. Ireland
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 3,872
- Percent of foreign born residents: 21.82%
- Percent of total state population: 0.19%
National
- Number of residents: 1,619,409
- Percent of foreign born residents: 15.48%
- #2 most common country of origin
Bettmann // Getty Images
#3. England
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 2,207
- Percent of foreign born residents: 12.44%
- Percent of total state population: 0.11%
National
- Number of residents: 843,491
- Percent of foreign born residents: 8.06%
- #4 most common country of origin
Bettmann // Getty Images
#4. Italy
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 1,222
- Percent of foreign born residents: 6.89%
- Percent of total state population: 0.06%
National
- Number of residents: 484,703
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.63%
- #6 most common country of origin
Hulton Archive // Getty Images
#5. Canada
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 1,045
- Percent of foreign born residents: 5.89%
- Percent of total state population: 0.05%
National
- Number of residents: 1,183,225
- Percent of foreign born residents: 11.31%
- #3 most common country of origin
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UniversalImagesGroup // Getty Images
#6. Switzerland
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 1,004
- Percent of foreign born residents: 5.66%
- Percent of total state population: 0.05%
National
- Number of residents: 115,959
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.11%
- #15 most common country of origin
Samuel Hopwood // Getty Images
#7. Russia
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 927
- Percent of foreign born residents: 5.22%
- Percent of total state population: 0.05%
National
- Number of residents: 424,372
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.06%
- #7 most common country of origin
Hulton Archive // Getty Images
#8. Scotland
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 544
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.07%
- Percent of total state population: 0.03%
National
- Number of residents: 234,699
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.24%
- #11 most common country of origin
Minnesota Historical Society // Getty Images
#9. Sweden
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 337
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.90%
- Percent of total state population: 0.02%
National
- Number of residents: 574,625
- Percent of foreign born residents: 5.49%
- #5 most common country of origin
Universal History Archive // Getty Images
#10. France
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 332
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.87%
- Percent of total state population: 0.02%
National
- Number of residents: 104,534
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.00%
- #18 most common country of origin
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Minnesota Historical Society // Getty Images
#11. Poland
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 322
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.81%
- Percent of total state population: 0.02%
National
- Number of residents: 383,595
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.67%
- #8 most common country of origin
Bettmann // Getty Images
#12. Wales
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 300
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.69%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 93,744
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.90%
- #20 most common country of origin
Smith Collection/Gado // Getty Images
#13. Hungary
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 296
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.67%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 145,815
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.39%
- #14 most common country of origin
Bettmann // Getty Images
#14. Austria
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 284
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.60%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 276,702
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.65%
- #10 most common country of origin
Buyenlarge // Getty Images
#15. Norway
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 141
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.79%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 338,426
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.24%
- #9 most common country of origin
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#16. Asia (except China, Japan, and India)
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 140
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.79%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 11,928
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.11%
- #27 most common country of origin
Bettmann // Getty Images
#17. Denmark
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 117
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.66%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 154,616
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.48%
- #13 most common country of origin
Bettmann // Getty Images
#18. Turkey
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 84
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.47%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 9,949
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- #30 most common country of origin
Bettmann // Getty Images
#19. Central America
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 83
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.47%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 3,911
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.04%
- #36 most common country of origin
FPG // Getty Images
#20. China
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 66
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.37%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 106,659
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.02%
- #16 most common country of origin
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Bettmann // Getty Images
#21. Europe (not otherwise specified)
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 61
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.34%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,272
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #41 most common country of origin
Universal History Archive // Getty Images
#22. Holland
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 52
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.29%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 105,098
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.00%
- #17 most common country of origin
Interim Archives // Getty Images
#23. Greece
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 38
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.21%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 8,655
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- #31 most common country of origin
Bettmann // Getty Images
#24. Africa
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 37
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.21%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,577
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #40 most common country of origin
Alexander Alland, Jr. // Getty Images
#25. Mexico
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 29
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.16%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 103,445
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.99%
- #19 most common country of origin
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ullstein bild Dtl. // Getty Images
#26. South America
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 26
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.15%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 4,814
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.05%
- #35 most common country of origin
FPG // Getty Images
#27. Belgium
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 26
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.15%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 29,848
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.29%
- #24 most common country of origin
Universal History Archive // Getty Images
#28. West Indies (except Cuba and Puerto Rico)
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 25
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 14,468
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- #26 most common country of origin
Hulton Deutsch // Getty Images
#29. Cuba
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 21
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.12%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 11,159
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.11%
- #28 most common country of origin
Lewis W. Hine // Getty Images
#30. Born at Sea
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 19
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.11%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 8,310
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- #32 most common country of origin
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Universal History Archive // Getty Images
#31. Australia
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 18
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 7,041
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.07%
- #34 most common country of origin
Bettmann // Getty Images
#32. Other Countries
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 16
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.09%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,587
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #39 most common country of origin
Keystone-France // Getty Images
#33. Finland
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 16
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.09%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 63,440
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.61%
- #22 most common country of origin
FPG // Getty Images
#34. Bohemia
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 16
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.09%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 156,999
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.50%
- #12 most common country of origin
ullstein bild // Getty Images
#35. Spain
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 14
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 7,284
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.07%
- #33 most common country of origin
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#36. Pacific Islands (except Phillipine Islands)
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 9
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.05%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,659
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- #38 most common country of origin
Hulton Archive // Getty Images
#37. India
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 9
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.05%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,069
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #42 most common country of origin
David RUBINGER // Getty Images
#38. Roumania
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 7
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.04%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 15,043
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- #25 most common country of origin
Historical // Getty Images
#39. Atlantic Islands
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 5
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 10,955
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- #29 most common country of origin
David RUBINGER // Getty Images
#40. Portugal
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 4
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 37,144
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.36%
- #23 most common country of origin
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Historical // Getty Images
#41. Japan
Tennessee
- Number of residents: 4
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 81,590
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.78%
- #21 most common country of origin