U.S. History Chapter 6 Section 2 The New Americans

The New Immigration Two waves of immigration in the 1800’s ▫1 st phase lasted until old immigration  Protestants from Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, and Sweden  Farmers leaving poverty and overcrowding As conditions in Europe improved, immigration slowed ▫2 nd phase took off after new immigration  Mostly Catholic and Jewish from Italy, Greece, Poland, and Russia

2,000,000 more in the 1880’s than the previous decade Southern and eastern Europe immigration ▫>5% in the 1870s ▫75% of the total by 1990s

Reasons to Leave Emigration laws in their countries were relaxed Regular steam ships Letters from friends and relatives Religious persecution People also moved to Canada, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia

The Immigrant Experience Excited, nervous, and afraid ▫The unknown Traveled in the steerage ▫Lowest deck of the ship ▫Seasickness and diseases Read the passage on pg. 142

U.S. had an immigration center on Ellis Island in New York City ▫Medical exams and questioning ▫Convicts and those with contagious diseases could be deported Old immigrants went to farm, new immigrants went to cities ▫Good farm ground is disappearing ▫Mills and factories hiring unskilled workers

Ethnic groups began to cluster together ▫Began to look and feel like “old country”  Language, food, and company were all familiar Immigrant children adjusted easier than parents ▫Can’t teach an old dog new tricks ▫Family heritage vs. new life Some groups did provide help ▫Parochial schools  Schools run by religious groups

Help from the Bosses City leaders ▫Created political machines Bribes and favoritism to gain power ▫Rig elections by buying votes ▫Friends got important jobs  Smaller machines in city neighborhoods

Bosses did help in some areas ▫Getting jobs ▫Paying for funerals ▫Christmas turkey Pg. 143

The Nativist Reaction Hostility from native born Americans 1840 secret society in NY ▫Don’t support Catholics or immigrants running for public office ▫“Know Nothing Party” ▫Wanted to restrict immigration

Jobs would be lost Immigrants would return after making a profit Immigrants couldn’t become “real” Americans ▫Catholic ▫Jewish ▫Ethnic neighborhoods Racial prejudice against Chinese in San Francisco

Rules on Immigration no convicts, mentally insane, or person living on charity no skilled foreign workers under contract Congress passed a law stating all immigrants must pass a literacy test ▫President Cleveland vetoed the bill  Willingness to work was more important

Building Modern America Immigrants worked hard! Poles and Italians: flour mills and rail yards of Buffalo Jews: NY clothes factories Slavs: Pennsylvania coal fields Chicago: by 1890, 80% of residents were immigrants or children of immigrants Many different cultural factors ▫Pg. 145