Final answer:
The trend shows a shift from Northern/Western European to Southern/Eastern European immigration to the U.S. between 1871-1910, largely due to economic opportunities, religious persecution, and political changes.
Step-by-step explanation:
The trend shown in the table suggests a shift in the origin of immigrants to the United States from Northern/Western Europe to Southern/Eastern Europe between 1871 and 1910. During the earlier period (1871 - 1890), there were 5,850,689 immigrants from Northern/Western Europe compared to 1,160,906 from Southern/Eastern Europe. However, in the latter period (1891 - 1910), the number of immigrants from Southern/Eastern Europe saw a significant increase to 8,244,864, surpassing those from Northern/Western Europe, which stood at 3,554,313. This shift was influenced by several factors including economic opportunities, escape from poverty, religious persecution, and political upheaval.
Economic opportunities were a major pull factor for immigrants. Over the course of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, roughly sixty million Europeans sought better economic opportunities on other continents, with many coming from agricultural regions such as southern Italy and Sicily.
Furthermore, many immigrants were fleeing poverty and religious persecution. Jewish people from the Russian empire, for instance, were escaping anti-Semitism and pogroms. Political dissidents and individuals displaced by industrialization also contributed to the migration from Southern/Eastern Europe.