Ch. 15 life at the turn of the 20th century CH. 15-1 NEW IMMIGRANTS AMERICAN HISTORY

CHANGING PATTERNS OF IMMIGRATION The USA is a nation of immigrants Native Americans are the only people that did not come from somewhere else THE OLD IMMIGRANTS 1800-1880-- >10,000,000 immigrants These people were known as the old immigrants Most came from Northern & Western Europe

United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Norway, China Reasons: political turmoil, economic opportunity, religious freedom THE NEW IMMIGRANTS 1880-1910—18,000,000 new immigrants Southern and Eastern Europe Czech, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Slovak

These immigrants were not Protestant Christians Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Jew Also Arabs, Armenian, and French Canadians Smaller numbers from East Asia Japanese immigrants were beginning to appear 1885—Japanese work on sugar plantations in Hawaii 1904—10,000 Japanese lived in the USA 1910—1 in 12 Americans had been born in a foreign country

COMING TO AMERICA DESIRE FOR A BETTER LIFE John F. Kennedy—Irish American—elected in 1961 –wrote a book “A Nation of Immigrants” “There were probably as many reasons for coming to America as there were people who came.” THE JOURNEY TO AMERICA The decision to come involved the entire family

The father or eldest son would usually come first The family would pool their resources to buy his passage on a ship After arriving, the person would work, save his money, buy prepaid tickets and send them back for other family members Getting to the departure point was an adventure Train, wagon, or foot Might have to wait weeks for a ship to leave

US Immigration Law 1893 Get approval from steamship company Provide identifying information Have at least $30 in cash Indicate if they had been to prison, a poorhouse, or mental institution Immigrants needed to pass a medical exam Immigrants were then vaccinated, disinfected and then allowed on board

ELLIS ISLAND US Government opened an immigration station in 1892 @ Ellis Island in New York harbor Open until 1954 (62 years)—112 million immigrants passed through this station Immigrants had to pass inspection before being allowed to enter the USA Inspectors examined 1st or 2nd class passengers aboard ship All others had to pass through Ellis Island Inspection process took about 5 hours

ANGEL ISLAND 1910—newcomers in the west processed at an island in San Francisco bay Mainly Chinese—were detained for weeks or months waiting for decision about whether they could stay BUILDING URBAN COMMUNITIES Most immigrants settled in crowded cities

Cities became a patchwork of ethnic clusters (p. 492) Churches and synagogues created to practice religious faith BENEVOLENT SOCIETIES—aid organizations to help immigrants Members would contribute money each month and then could receive financial help if they were too sick to work

NATIVISTS RESPOND Immigrant labor kept factories running and helped build cities Native-born Americans saw immigrants as a threat to society Some thought newcomers were too different to fit in Others blamed immigrants for crime, poverty, violence Immigrants accepted lower wages for their work

LIMITING CHINESE IMMIGRATION Many people tolerated Chinese workers but did not welcome them 1873-the economy worsens Americans blame Chinese immigrants for taking away jobs Late 1870s-a group of unemployed workers organized the Workingmen’s Party of California Oppose Chinese immigration

Leader was Denis Kearney (Irish immigrant) 1879—California adopted a new state constitution that prohibited Chinese workers from holding state jobs Local communities could ban Chinese from their cities or restrict them to certain districts CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT OF 1882—banned Chinese immigration for 10 years 1892—law was renewed 1902—Chinese immigration banned indefinitely

LIMITING JAPANESE IMMIGRATION 1906—San Francisco school board segregated its schools Japanese and white students would attend separate schools Japanese government complained to President Theodore Roosevelt GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT USA & Japan Japan agreed not to sent unskilled workers to the USA and America would not segregate schools

DETERRING OTHER IMMIGRANTS Many nativists called for immigrants to pass a literacy test The test would be used to keep as many immigrants out as possible 1917—Congress pass THE LITERACY TEST ACT over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto AMERICANIZATION Some Americans wanted immigrants to assimilate into society

Schools and voluntary organizations taught immigrants English literacy skills and subjects needed for citizenship such as American History and Government THE END