Push – Pull Factors Push Pull Farmers displaced by factories – Industrial Revolution Religious oppression Pull Freedom American Dream Religious Freedom

Asian Immigration Gold was discovered in California in 1848, eventually attracting thousands of Chinese miners and contract laborers. In 1850, just over 1,000 Asian immigrants entered the U.S., but ten years later, the figure had jumped to nearly 37,000, mostly Chinese. In some quarters, Chinese workers were welcomed. The Central Pacific Railroad recruited Chinese to work on the transcontinental railroad in 1865. Three years later the Chinese and the U.S. ratified the Burlingame Treaty which facilitated Chinese immigration.

First exclusionary act 1875 Convicts, prostitutes, and "coolies" (Chinese contract laborers) are barred from entry into the United States.

Immigration Act passed. 1882 The federal government moves to firmly establish its authority over immigration. Chinese immigration is curtailed; ex-convicts, lunatics, idiots, and those unable to take care of themselves are excluded. In addition, a tax is levied on newly arriving immigrants.

1891 Office of Immigration created. Paupers, polygamists, the insane and persons with contagious diseases are excluded from entry into the US

Ellis Island Ellis Island opened in 1892 as a federal immigration station, a purpose it served for more than 60 years (it closed in 1954). Millions of newly arrived immigrants passed through the station during that time–in fact, it has been estimated that close to 40 percent of all current U.S. citizens can trace at least one of their ancestors to Ellis Island.

1903 Additional people excluded Epileptics, professional beggars, and anarchists are excluded

Immigrant Labor 57.9% of all workers were foreign- born The Transcontinental Railroad— perhaps the most important infrastructure project in American history—was built almost entirely by immigrant labor; the Union Pacific Railroad, laying track westward from Omaha toward the Rockies, hired almost exclusively among Irishmen, while the Central Pacific, building eastward from California across the Sierras, employed almost exclusively Chinese laborers.

After 1890, a large majority of miners in Pennsylvania's bituminous coalfields—in the black mines that supplied the vital energy to fuel America's mills and factories—were Italian, Polish, Slovakian, or Hungarian immigrants.

By 1915, Eastern European Jews dominated New York City's huge garment trade; more than three- quarters of the city's 300,000 garment workers were estimated to be Jewish immigrants, and most of them toiled in Jewish-owned workshops.

1907 Exclusions further broadened Imbeciles, the feeble-minded, tubercular's, persons with physical or mental defects, and persons under the age of 16 without parent.

Religion The vast majority were Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. However, due to increased persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe, many Jewish immigrants sought freedom from torment. Very few newcomers spoke any English, and large numbers were illiterate in their native tongues.

1907 Gentleman’s agreement with Japan Asian students would not be segregated, and Japan would curtail it’s immigration to US

Cities/tenements The new American cities became the destination of many of the most destitute. Once the trend was established, letters from America from friends and family beckoned new immigrants to ethnic enclaves such as Chinatown, Greektown, or Little Italy. This led to an urban ethnic patchwork, with little integration. The dumbbell tenement and all of its woes became the reality for most newcomers until enough could be saved for an upward move.

1917 Literacy test All immigrants 16 years or older must demonstrate the ability to read a forty word passage in their native language. All Asian immigrants are banned from entry