Simon Greenleaf Croswell

One argument used by those supporting restrictions on immigration in the nineteenth century was that the large numbers of immigrants to the United States were overcrowding cities, especially along the eastern seaboard. Simon Greenleaf Croswell counters that contention by arguing in the following viewpoint that the United States, except for its major cities, has a low population density—much lower than the countries in Europe, where many of the immigrants hailed from. Because of America’s low population density, the demand for labor exceeds the available supply. Therefore, he asserts, the argument that the United States should restrict immigration due to overcrowding is baseless. Instead, Croswell maintains that the United States should encourage immigration to meet the demand for labor, as most immigrants are hard workers who would...