Thursday March 2nd 2017. Pick up your spirals/folders from the front and clear your desk to finish grading the quiz. We will grade the quiz, do bellwork, and take notes. Bellwork next slide.
Bellwork: Fill in the blanks, everyone will read their answer. For me to leave my home country it would take ____________________. I would want to go to a new country that _________________________.
Immigration
Causes of 19th Century Immigration (Push-pull factors) Push Factors Overcrowded European cities Crop failures (Irish Potato Famine caused mass starvation and killed 750,000) Religious and political turmoil (failed German revolution) Pull Factors Religious and political freedom (democracy) Economic opportunity (California Gold Rush attracted Chinese immigrants) Industrial Revolution created factory jobs Abundance of low cost land (westward expansion) North vs. South Most immigrants were attracted to the industrial North Employment opportunities in factories/mills Slave labor resulted in limited job opportunities for immigrants in the South
Major Cultural Groups Group Location Cultural Influence Irish Irish Potato Famine Mostly North Major cities like Boston Catholicism, transcontinental railroad Germans Largest group of 19th century Pennsylvania, Wisconsin (also Texas) kindergarten, polka music, meat curing, sausage making, Grimm Brothers’ fairy tales, some Christmas traditions Other Europeans English, French, Italians, Swedes, Norwegians, Scottish mostly North place names, food, traditions Chinese “Economic boom” in the West Gold Rush then Railroad mostly California transcontinental railroad, food, traditions African Americans Few free, most enslaved Free have few or no rights Free: mostly North Enslaved: southern states; mostly Deep South with cotton plantations food, music (gospel, blues), celebrations (Juneteenth), civil rights participation (20th century) Mexican Americans Former Spanish or Mexican citizens Southwest place names, vocabulary, Catholicism, food, arts Native Americans In America long before Europeans Vast majority relocated to reservations (Oklahoma)
Barriers Poverty: Many immigrants spent their money passage to America and arrived with nothing Employment: Influx of immigrants resulted in more workers than jobs (immigrants work for lower wages) Poverty-stricken immigrants had to live off lower wages Urbanization: Overcrowded cities resulted in scarcity of jobs, housing, and food Unemployment, crime, and disease were rampant Nativism Many U.S.-born American citizens saw immigrants as a threat to their economic opportunities Many Protestant Americans saw Irish (and some German) Catholics as being anti-American Know-Nothings: Secret nativist organization Harassed immigrants, denied employment, kept them out of politics “Help Wanted; Irish Need Not Apply” Ethnic Neighborhoods: Immigrants tended to establish their own neighborhoods Provided support for their people through housing, jobs, and language
Barriers Non-immigrant cultural groups (Faced prejudice, mistreatment, and injustice) Mexican Americans Had property seized after the U.S.-Mexican War and during the Gold Rush Native Americans Murdered, forced off homelands, relocated, decimated by spread of Anglo diseases Enslaved Blacks Beaten; labor exploited; freedom withheld Denied basic rights: voting, education, and equality Families divided by slave trade Free Blacks Though not enslaved, they usually were denied basic rights even in free states Subject to kidnapping in Free states and being sold into slavery
Impact Industrial Revolution Northern population growth Influx of immigrants allowed businesses to expand the labor force Northern population growth Immigration caused population to grow rapidly in northern states North acquires greater political power in Congress Transcontinental Railroad Most work done by Irish and Chinese immigrants Cultural identity American culture has been influenced by many different cultures in many different ways Language, food, customs, music, stories, and traditions