The American Melting Pot

What is a melting pot? hk hk

Definition of Melting Pot?! The fusion of different nationalities and cultures and ethnicities in the United States which began thanks to immigration in the 19 th and 20 th century!

The “Old” and “New” Immigrants By 1890’s most immigrants were coming from Eastern and Southern Europe Italy, Greece, Russia, and Poland By 1910 new immigrants were coming from China and Japan

The Supreme Court in 1875 declared regulation of immigration a federal responsibility. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and Alien Contract Labor laws of 1885 and 1887 prohibited certain laborers from immigrating to the United States. The general Immigration Act of 1882 levied a head tax of 50 cents on each immigrant and blocked the entry of idiots, lunatics, and convicts Early American Regulation on Immigration

New Immigration: The Chinese The Chinese began to immigrant to the United States looking to strike it rich from the California Gold Rush ( ) They began to work on the First Transcontinental Railroad to make money During the Gold Rush the less gold being found, the more American workers began to dislike the Chinese. After being forced out of the mines most Chinese immigrants began to settle in San Francisco.

Chinese Immigrants working on the railroad

Chinese Exclusion Act 1882 Signed by President Arthur Suspended Chinese immigration for ten years Declared the Chinese as ineligible for naturalization. Chinese workers already in the country challenged the constitutionality of the discriminatory acts, but their efforts failed.

President Arthur

Resulted in... The Act excluded Chinese skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining from entering the country for ten years under penalty of imprisonment and deportation Yellow Peril

PAWS

California Gold Rush! The discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848 sparked the Gold Rush As news spread of the discovery, thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by sea or over land to San Francisco and the surrounding area; by the end of 1849, A total of $2 billion worth of precious metal was extracted from the area during the Gold Rush, which peaked in 1852

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