Existing comment:
Enticements
Wanted: Immigrants:
In 1862, during the Civil War, Secretary of State William Seward issued this circular to US diplomatic posts encouraging them to make it known that the United States welcomes "the industrious laboring man and artisan." Foreign-born men made up a large proportion of the Union Army, and aliens staked claims for land under the Homestead Act. See highlighted text.
Texas: "Labor Paradise"
To persuade emigrants to come to America, steamship companies routinely printed ads celebrating the wonders newcomers would find here. This ad printed in the Ottoman Empire around 1909 describes Texas as a "Labor Paradise" where "without any references and intermediation anybody can at once obtain work and money." |