What do you think a Push Factor would be and what would be a Pull Factor?

Definitions Push Factor: A reason why someone would be forced to/choose to move, migrate, emigrate from a certain place. Pull Factor: A reason why someone would choose to move, migrate, immigrate to a particular place Emigrate: Leave a country Immigrate: Come to a country

Old Immigrants Refers to immigration of the mid 19th century Primarily Irish and Germans with other Northern and Western Europeans Chinese had just started coming over but not in large numbers With the exception of the Irish they were mostly Protestant and not particularly poor compared to many Americans Those from England and usually Ireland spoke English About 7 million between 1820 and 1870

New Immigrants Refers to people that arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (after 1885) Primarily Southern and Eastern Europeans such as Italians, Greeks, Slovaks, Hungarians, Russians, etc. on the East Coast and Chinese on the West Coast Primarily Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Jewish Many were absolutely destitute- meaning they had absolutely nothing when they came Few spoke English About 23 million between 1880 and 1920

The Irish Potato Famine (Push) Potatoes were the main food source for most of Ireland (1/3 of the population) - They produced many other foods but most of these needed to be sold In 1845 a disease started to affect most of the potatoes so they rotted while still growing in the ground

The Irish Potato Famine (Push) Caused famine (a lack of food) and many people starved - Over 1,000,000 Irish died between 1845 and 1852 Eventually spread to the rest of Europe

Revolution (Push) Germany had a particularly large and violent one 1848 is often called the year of revolutions because several happened in Europe Germany had a particularly large and violent one Many people want to avoid the violence Many other people may have been involved and needed to escape their governments 1910 Revolution in Mexico caused similar turmoil

Religious Persecution (Push) The Irish were treated poorly by the British for being Catholic - They may not have realized that the same prejudice existed in America In the early 20th century many Jews faced violence in Eastern Europe - Russia in particular engaged in pogroms (attacks on Jewish communities) Many Armenians in the Ottoman Empire faced similar oppression

Jobs (Push and Pull) Europe has a higher population density (more people in less space) and fewer jobs available in cities - Some skilled craftsmen may have been driven out of business by industrialization - Farms in Europe were typically very small due to lack of land

Jobs (Push and Pull) America is industrializing rapidly so it has many factory jobs Cities are growing rapidly so there are many construction jobs Lots of farmland available

Democracy and Freedom (Pull) Once Immigrants became citizens they could vote and influence politics - In Europe at this time there were few representative governments Religious freedom Freedom of speech

Myth of the American Dream (Pull) Many immigrants and poor Americans believed America offered the prospect for upward mobility (gaining wealth and societal stature) Many Europeans were lured by famous success stories (like Andrew Carnegie) The hardships faced by most immigrants did not stop these stories from spreading

Pushes and Pulls for Migration of Natural Born Americans Sharecropping and the crop lien system were making life hard for farmers - Farmers were forced to borrow money against their future crops to pay for supplies and necessities of life - Often those crops were not worth enough to cover the debt

Pushes and Pulls for Migration of Natural Born Americans In the late 1800's machines began to replace people on farms Work available in cities African Americans hoped to find more opportunities: - jobs - education - less discrimination