The 1st wave of immigration primarily consisted of which group?

• A. Protestants from Northwestern Europe
• B. Catholics from Ireland
• C. Asians from East Asia
• D. Africans from the Caribbean

Answer: (A)

The main idea being tested is understanding the timeline and composition of immigration to the early United States. The first wave consists of the very earliest settlers who established the colonial population, and they came primarily from Northwestern Europe. These groups were largely Protestant and were drawn by opportunities for land, economic life, and, for some, religious freedom. They settled along the Atlantic coast and formed the foundations of early American society.

Catholics from Ireland became a major immigrant flow later, especially in the 19th century, after the famine and other pressures. Immigrants from East Asia and Africans from the Caribbean arrived in significant numbers in later periods, often for labor or under coercive conditions, not as the primary force shaping the earliest settlements.