For over a century it was almost universally believed that the
prosperity of the country depended largely upon a copious influx of
population. This sentiment found expression in President Lincoln's
message to Congress on December 8, 1863, in which he called
immigration a "source of national wealth and strength" and urged
Congress to establish "a system for the encouragement of immigration."
In conformity with this suggestion, Congress passed a law designed to
aid the importation of labor under contract. But the measure was soon
repealed, so that it remains the only instance in American history in
which the Federal Government attempted the direct encouragement of
general immigration.[50]

It was in 1819 that the first Federal law pertaining to immigration
was passed. It was not prompted by any desire to regulate or restrict
immigration, but aimed rather to correct the terrible abuses to which
immigrants were subject on shipboard. So crowded and unwholesome were
these quarters that a substantial percentage of all the immigrants who
embarked for America perished during the voyage. The law provided that
ships could carry only two passengers for every five tons burden; it
enjoined a sufficient supply of water and food for crew and
passengers; and it required the captains of vessels to prepare lists
of their passengers giving age, sex, occupation, and the country
whence they came. The law, however good its intention, was loosely
drawn and indifferently enforced. Terrible abuses of steerage
passengers crowded into miserable quarters were constantly brought to
the public notice. From time to time the law was amended, and the
advent of steam navigation brought improved conditions without,
however, adequate provision for Federal inspection.