Immigration Unit PPT Mr. Macpherson 9/10 th grade Resource Lab

Day 1

Warm-up  You’ve just been elected the ultimate ruler of a new country.  Think: How would you design your perfect society? What rules does it have? What type of things does your society value?  Think of it this way… you’re a “founding father (or mother)” of a country.  Create a list of the top 10 rules in your society or country. Be ready to share and justify your answers.

Your rules! If you ran a country…  Now it’s your turn to decide and be immigration police.  Read the following scenarios and decide:  Do you want this person in your country?

History of Immigration Outline  Colonial  Old  New  Current Issues/ Update WOW! From 1865 to million people arrived from abroad!

Colonial Immigration  Ran from the first people from England to Declaration of Independence  Places of Origin: English, Scotch-Irish, German, Swedish, Dutch and African  Reasons: political and religious freedom, economics, and as slaves  Settled on east coast  Africans eventually settled in the South

ProblemsContributions  Native American conflicts  Building farms homes and a new life in unknown territory  Language  Government  Religion  Cultural Traditions

Old Immigration Reasons  Ran from est. of U.S. until about 1850  Most from Northern and Western Europe, especially Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia  Famine from failure of the Potato Crop in Ireland  Revolutions in Germany  Economic Opportunity

DifficultiesContributions  Irish and German Catholics often faced hostility on arrival  Many feared competition for jobs from the new immigrants  RR s and Canals  Labored in factories.  Brought advanced farming techniques  Idea of Kindergarten and other educational techniques

New Immigration  From 1850 to 1924  From Southern and Eastern and Europe, Usually Poland, Italy,and Russia as well as substantial numbers of Japanese and Chinese

Reasons Places  Hope for greater economic opportunity  Political Freedom  Religious Freedom  Cities, especially industrial centers and ports  Often were concentrated in Ghettos  Asian Immigrants settled on the West Coast (usually California)

DifficultiesContributions  Fear of losing their religious and cultural heritage  Reactions of fear and hostility from native born Americans  Discrimination in jobs and Immigration  Competition from other minority groups  Italian and Jewish girls Worked in Sweatshops of the garment industry  Poles and Slavs labored in coal mines and steel mills of Pa. And Midwest  Chinese built transcontinental RR and aided expansion as well as contributing to U.S. cultural diversity

Reaction to Immigration  Brought new wave of Nativism  Often Racism came from descendants of Old Immigrants  Belief was traditions of Immigrants have negative impact on U.S. society  Felt Immigrants kept wages low  Jokes and stereotypes common  Tried to Influence law against natives

Immigrants and Society: Theories of Different Absorption  Assimilation : Immigrants disappear into established culture. Give up traditions and attitudes to be accepted.  Pluralism: recognizes that groups do not always lose distinctive characters. Can live with each group making different contributions. Often called Salad Bowl Theory  Melting Pot Theory : People from Various cultures met in U.S. to form new American.  Groups not easily distinguished (all one new mixture)