Immigration 1865-1920

What is a Migration? to move from one country, place, or locality to another

What is an Immigrant? a person who comes to a country to take up permanent residence immigrated to the United States from China

What is an Emigrant? a person who leaves one's place of residence or country to live elsewhere emigrated from China to the United States

Where did the majority of Immigrants to the United States originate from?

Where did the majority of Immigrants to the United States originate from? Between 1865 and 1890, the vast majority of immigrants came from Europe, with the majority of those coming from the northwest and central countries. Ireland, Great Britain, Germany, Poland Between 1890 and 1920, the vast majority of Immigrants came from central, southern, and eastern Europe, and to a lesser extent, the Middle East Russia, Bulgaria, Italy, Turkey

How many Immigrants came to the United States?

How many Immigrants came to the United States? In 1860, the US population totaled approx. 31.5 million people Between 1865 and 1920, almost 30 million immigrants came to the US

Where do immigrants live today?

Why did emigrants leave their homelands? (Push Causes) Issues in the homeland included: Unemployment and/or Low wages War Natural Disasters Political Turmoil Religious Persecution Ethnic Cleansing/Genocide Poor Climate Criminal Escapees Famine, Drought

Plentiful land at relatively cheap prices Why was the United States the most popular destination for Immigrants from 1865-1920? (Pull Causes) Plentiful land at relatively cheap prices An abundance of jobs, many not requiring specific skills Religious and political freedoms No wars Lower tax rates Education opportunities Medical treatment

Where did Immigrants enter the United States? Major port cities of entry for immigrants included: New York (70% of all immigrants) Boston Philadelphia Baltimore San Francisco Seattle

The Migration Journey From Europe: What were the requirements set by the American government for those wishing to begin the journey to America? Exclusion: Was anyone kept from coming to America, and why? The Journey: What was the journey to America like for those making the voyage? Arrival: What was life like for the new immigrants to America? Citizenship: What is the process for immigrants to become citizens of America?

Limiting Immigration Why would the government limit the amount of immigrants coming into the United States? Racism and Prejudices Economics Did Immigrants lower wages, drive property values down, and were illegals an expense on tax payers? Did they take all of the menial jobs, take too many of the good jobs, etc. War Overpopulation

Limiting Immigration How do you limit the amount of immigrants coming into a country? Quotas - the share or proportion assigned to each in a division or to each member of a body Exclusions - to prevent or restrict the entrance of

Quotas were used to either limit to overall flow of immigrants into the US, or to put specific limits on the amount of people from a particular country or region of the world Exclusions were used to prohibit specific groups from emigrating to the US entirely

Example of a Quota Immigration Act of 1924 – the 1890 US Census totaled the amount of immigrants in the US, and then restricted immigration to 2% of each individual group’s total IE. There were 200,000 Italian immigrants in the US in 1890. Only 4,000 Italians were allowed entry each year.

Examples of Exclusions In 1875, Congress banned criminals and prostitutes from entering the US In 1882, “idiots” and “lunatics” and those “at risk” for becoming a public problem were banned from entering the US In 1891, “paupers”, “polygamists” and the “diseased” were banned from entering the US

Examples of Exclusions Chinese Exclusion Act – pressured by US labor unions, the US Congress prohibit Chinese workers from entering the US. It was instituted from 1882 to 1902, and then became a permanent ban until 1943. From 1943 to 1965, only 105 Chinese immigrants were allowed per year. Webb Alien Land Law – in 1913, California banned non-citizen Asians from owning farmland