Immigration and Migration

A Nation of Immigrants 1850 – Pop million 1900 – Pop million 16.2 million immigrants 1850 – million between 1901 and 1910

Why? PushesPulls Poverty of farmers due to mechanization Overcrowding and unemployment in cities Religious persecution Political and religious freedom Economic opportunity of the Great Plains Industrial jobs Inexpensive travel

Differences Old Immigrants (prior to 1880s)New Immigrants (1880 – WWI) Northern and Western Europe Protestant Literacy and skills Southern and Eastern Europe Catholic, Greek/Russian Orthodox, Jewish Poor, illiterate Overcrowding in slums ¼ contract labor

Immigration Restrictions 1882 – Chinese Exclusion Act Restrictions on ex-cons and mentally ill Outlaw of contract labor 1892 – Ellis Island, NY: medical/physical exams, entry tax

Ellis Island

Angel Island

Anti-Immigrant Groups Some Labor Unions Nativists Social Darwinists – Germans were biologically inferior Depression of 1890s fueled anti-immigrant hysteria

Social Gospel 1880s and 90s – clergymen espousing help for poor Apply Christ’s teaching to social problems Walter Raushenbusch ▫Christ bore six social sins on the cross  “Religious bigotry, the combination of graft and political power, the corruption of justice, the mob spirit (being "the social group gone mad") and mob action, militarism, and class contempt-- “  "Because the Kingdom of God has been dropped as the primary and comprehensive aim of Christianity, and personal salvation has been substituted for it, therefore men seek to save their own souls and are selfishly indifferent to the evangelization of the world." ▫Influenced MLK, Bishop Desmond Tutu

Social Darwinism Herbert Spencer – Natural selection should be applied to the marketplace ▫Wealth in the hands of the “fit” was a benefit to the human race. ▫Help for poor interfered with the laws of nature and weakens the species