Immigration A brief overview
OLD vs NEW IMMIGRANTS Between 1880 and 1920, almost 24 million immigrants arrived in the United States. OLD immigrants: 1800-1880s came from Northwestern Europe (Great Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia) NEW immigrants:1880-1920 came from Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as Asia (Italy, Russia, Greece, Poland, China…)
PUSH FACTORS Low wages, unemployment, disease, forced military conscription, and religious persecution (particularly Eastern European and Russian Jews) all inspired immigrants to flee their homelands and come to the United States Europe was also industrializing at this time, and many people moved to urban areas and abandoned their agrarian lifestyle but found it hard to survive in the urban cities of Europe.
Angel Island vs. Ellis Island Ellis Island was opened in 1892 and is in New York Harbor- an immigration center that processed immigrants coming into the country mostly from Europe Angel Island opened in 1910 and is in San Francisco Bay- an immigration center that processed immigrants coming mostly from Asian countries -stricter immigration laws made Angel Island have a worse reputation for deportation and detaining of immigrants
PULL FACTORS American Dream- land of liberty? Economic Opportunity Reuniting with family members who moved earlier Advertisements in newspapers of Europe
Ellis Island
Angel Island
Adapting to Life in America Immigrants did a number of things to help them cope with their new surroundings: -living in ethnic neighborhoods (ex. Chinatown) -producing native language media like newspapers Political machines to help immigrants in exchange for their votes -benevolent societies created to support immigrants in their new life (ex. Settlement houses)
Nativist Reactions Some Americans were prejudiced against these new immigrants, believing that they were causing all of society’s problems and also going to ruin the economy. For example, the economic downturn- The Panic of 1873, caused Nativists to protest against Chinese immigrants and it resulted in the : Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which denied citizenship to Chinese immigrants and cancelled the immigration of any new Chinese workers.
Think about it: Was this reaction to economic troubles and resulting in harsh immigration laws justified? Why or why not? Do you think this sort of reaction is a theme throughout history, not only in the US, but in other countries? Give some examples.
Online Reading If you have not done it by now- you should. You will need to know the information from the chapter for your test next week (either Wed. or Thur.)
PRACTICE Which of the following is not an example of immigrants adapting to life in America? a. producing media in their native languages b. living in ethnic neighborhoods c. receiving aid from settlement houses d. pledging support to political machines e. none of the above
PRACTICE Please describe three major differences between Ellis Island and Angel Island.