There has long been a controversy over the impact of immigration on the United States economy. In the North the influx of migrants in the early 19th century created downward pressures on urban wages, mitigated only by the frontier which provided a safety valve for the existing wage earners who moved there to escape the lack of opportunity in the coastal cities. At the same time many immigrants moved directly to the less settled regions increasing national output. For the South during the Antebellum period there is great controversy regarding the geographic and economic mobility of international immigrants. The purpose of this research is to analyze the internal migration behavior of international immigration to New Orleans, the major port of entry in the South. Migration behavior will be investigated by developing a sample of foreign passengers arriving at New Orleans in 1849 and tracing the location and economic fortunes of these passengers in 1850 and 1860 using the manuscript census of population and indexes to those censuses. This research is important because it will shed light on the role immigration played in the economic development of the United States.
