Hi guys! In order to better understand my countries founding, I've taken to copying down important pieces of United States history, and I figured there was no better place to start than the Declaration of Independence.
My knowledge and understanding of U.S. history is just the other side of minimal, but still pretty poor in my eyes. Even worse is my ability to translate some of the epic prose in these documents. So when I read a particular grievance with those damn Brits, my interest was piqued.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
Does this mean one of the grievences they had with England was that King George was making it difficult/impossible for immigrants to come and if/when they could, make it difficult/impossible to acquire land? Which my understanding is that was a very important part of legitimizing yourself just in general, let alone in a new country.
Please correct me if I'm wrong but that is what I got out of that statement. Thanks for the help.
Immigration, whether of workers or merchants, was long seen as necessary to the growth of the American Colonies. Several different schemes and plans existed to recruit indentured servants to immigrate in return for several (often seven) years' service. And of course, a significant portion of the new "immigrants" weren't there by choice, but they were also seen as a force to strengthen and grow the Colonies. As the settlers began to spread out into the Ohio and Mississippi River regions, the settlers began to come into conflict with the Indians, and that became a security issue as well. In 1757, Georgia passed a law addressing just these issues, saying that immigration was "of the greatest importance to the safety of the British Empire in America that the Province of Georgia should be peopled with a Number of Inhabitants sufficient to repel any Invasion or Incroachment of foreign Powers, and to prevent any Incursion of the Indians.”[1]
As the colonists moved into conflict with the Crown, this became an issue for the English as well. In addition to preventing the Colonies from becoming too strong, the King was worried about increased immigration, especially German immigration, as non-English settlers wouldn't have a strong loyalty to the English Crown.[2] In addition to a decree restricting Ohio Valley settlement (passed in 1763, rescinded in 1768) the Crown issued a decree in 1773 that barred the Colonies from passing their own laws regarding naturalization. At this point, the Crown was leery of anything the Colonies did that countermanded their authority, or conducted business that only the King should be able to do.[3]
It's also good to note that, not only was expansion an issue in the Revolution, it was one of the chief causes of the Civil War. Much of the violence in the 1850s, before war was declared, was over whether new territories would be "Slave" or "Free" states.
So, the short answer to your question is: The Colonists wanted to encourage any kind of immigration in order to build up their labor and their agricultural strength, as well as add to a large class of citizen defenders. The Crown opposed this, for the same reasons, especially when it became clear that a potential rebellion was brewing.
References:
[1] Gershon, Livia, "Immigration and National Security in George Washington’s Day," JSTOR Daily, 7 March 2017, Retrieved from https://daily.jstor.org/immigration-and-national-security-in-george-washingtons-day/
[2] "The Declaration of Independence -- Grievances Annotated." America in Class: Making the Revolution 1763-1791 Primary Source Collection. Retrieved from https://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/rebellion/text8/decindep.pdf
[3] Bell, J.L. "The Issue of Naturalization Laws and What Really Mattered." Boston 1775. Retrieved from https://boston1775.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-issue-of-naturalization-laws-and.html