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Europeans mainly. But particularly those who were facing difficulty at that time. So many Irish people who were facing a potato famine in the 1800s went to America. In 1862 the government made a homestead Act in which you could claim 160 acres of land if you paid $30 after 5 years, the land was almost free. It gave people a chance to start a new life for a very little cost.

The American government wanted American to be settled to make it less vulnerable to attack from neighbouring countries. So they created the manifest destiny - that America should be completely settled by white Americans. So people, who were originally only settled in the East of America (mainly from Europe) were encouraged to move West and were tempted by Acts like the one above of 1862.

Other things also attracted many people to America. For example gold was found in California in 1848. Many professional miners from Cornwall travelled there in hope of getting very rich. As well as many amateur from all round the world.

Also many Chineese went to America because in the 1860s the US government were wanting lots of labourers for the building of the railroad. So they encouraged thousands of Chineese to emigrate there. The Chinese were also drawn to America by the Californian Gold Rush.

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14y ago

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