In the late 1890s there was a huge immigration boom to the United States. What term describes this movement?

In the late 1890s there was a huge immigration boom to the United States. What term describes this movement?

• A. Immigration
• B. Emigration
• C. Migration
• D. Exile

Answer: (A)

This is about the word for moving into a country. Immigration means entering a country to live there. In the late 1890s, many people were coming into the United States from other countries, so they were entering the U.S.—that is immigration. Emigration would be leaving one’s homeland to live somewhere else, which is the opposite direction. Migration is a general word for moving from one place to another, and it can be within a country or between countries, but it doesn’t specify entering a new country. Exile refers to being forced to leave, usually for political reasons, not the common voluntary mass arrival described here. So the movement described is immigration.

This is about the word for moving into a country. Immigration means entering a country to live there. In the late 1890s, many people were coming into the United States from other countries, so they were entering the U.S.—that is immigration. Emigration would be leaving one’s homeland to live somewhere else, which is the opposite direction. Migration is a general word for moving from one place to another, and it can be within a country or between countries, but it doesn’t specify entering a new country. Exile refers to being forced to leave, usually for political reasons, not the common voluntary mass arrival described here. So the movement described is immigration.