Immigration Immigration has always played a large role in American history, to some degree almost all of us, somewhere in our family history, came from immigrants The Great Period of Immigration however was between 1860 and 1900, driven in large part by the jobs created by the Industrial Revolution

The population of the US in 1860 was roughly 31.5 million, between 1865 and 1920 about 30 million more immigrants entered the country People came for a variety of reasons, many were lured by the promise of jobs which where in short supply in Europe Some came for political freedom and stability Other fled government persecution, or war in their home land

While they came for different reasons their journeys often where very similar Many of these immigrant carried everything they owned and they had invested most of their money on their Ocean Liner tickets Most of these passenger travel in what was known as steerage, a large open space beneath the ships decks The journey could take from 2 to 4 weeks depending on which port you left from

Steerage had bad food, no privacy, and limited toilet facilities In the early years of immigration, the immigrants were simply dropped off on the docks of New York, however, as the numbers of immigrants rose the need process and check and control this immigration became apparent In 1855 The government began filtering immigrants through a facility called Castle Garden in Manhattan, then in 1891 with the creation of the immigration beau immigration was moved to Ellis Island

Almost 70 percent of the immigrants coming to the US passed through Ellis Island On Ellis Island Immigration officials attempted to sort immigrant to ensure that the new arrivals where healthy, able and likely to find work Immigrants could be deported of sent back for many reasons, mental disorders, contagious illnesses, political association were all reasons to deport immigrants

An eye disease called Trachoma was the most common reason to be deported Because of the deportation and the threat of deportation Ellis Island became known as the Island of Tears, despite its nickname most immigrants passed through the Island with few problems After an Immigrant passed through Ellis Island they were on their way to their new lives, many had come at the urging of relatives already in the country and headed off to join their family

Cities like New York swelled with the influx of new immigrants, as did cities throughout the North and Mid-west which offered factory jobs to immigrants Immigrants often lived in what became known as ghettos, ghettos were areas of town were everyone who lived there was of the same ethnic makeup Soon large cities were developing Little Italy's, China towns, and in Cincinnati Over the Rhine

Problems with Immigration This huge influx of immigrants was not without problems, many “Americans” disliked, distrusted, and generally did not welcome these newcomers Culturally many people did not like that these newcomers did not speak English, they dressed strongly, ate strange things, and had strange customs which they did not abandon when they came to the US Many feared that the immigrants would not assimilate in US culture

Economically immigrants were a threat to workers already in the country Because they would take any job and work for very low wages, immigrants drove the wages of most workers down When jobs became scarce immigrants were in direct competition with “Americans” for what few jobs remained Socially immigrants were a problem because the ghettos were often poverty ridden and thus areas of crime and violence

Immigrants swelling numbers stretched city services beyond the cities ability to deal with issues like sanitation, fire and safety, legal issues Politically many people saw the immigrants as threats because they brought ideas like communism and anarchism with them Because of these issues many ethnic groups would suffer ethnic stereotypes, racism, and violent resistance to their immigration

The problems of this huge immigration cause what became know as the Nativist Movement to grow in American The Nativist push for laws the limit or stop immigration or the immigration of certain groups Nativist promoted English only movements in government and schools as well as attempt to bar immigrant from working at certain jobs or living in certain areas

On the west coast Asian immigrant in particular suffered not only social racism but also legal racism The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 put a stop to must Chinese immigrant labor In 1907 President Roosevelt entered into a gentleman's agreement with Japan to end Japanese labor immigration The Alien Exclusion Act in 1913 prevented Asians from owning farmland or businesses Eventually in 1921 the Nativist movement was able to pass the Immigration Restriction Act which put sever limits on all immigration