1. United States Immigration

2. Early Immigration
Between 1815 & 1914, more than 30 million immigrants came to America.
Up until 1896, most came from north & west Europe:
Britain
Scandinavia
Germany
Ireland

3. New Immigrants After 1896 - most came from eastern & southern Europe:
Russia
Poland
Austria-Hungary
Italy
Romania

4. Why They Left
Immigrants were experiencing difficult times in their native land:
Famine
Unemployment
War
Political & Religious Persecution

5. Trouble with New Immigrants
Most are Catholic, Orthodox, and Jewish
They speak strange languages, eat strange food, and practice strange customs.

6. Immigration Restrictions
Nativists were worried about too many immigrants arriving. They pressure the government to do something.
Chinese Exclusion Act
Denied Chinese right to immigrate for 10 years.
“Undesirables” Barred
Convicts, lunatics, alcoholics, vagrants, anarchists rejected
Literacy Test
Must pass to enter US

7. Ellis Island Opened in 1892 Run by the federal government
Processing center for immigrants
Must go here first
98% of prospective immigrants gained entry to US from Ellis Island

8. Jobs for Immigrants Newcomers are taken advantage of.
They don’t speak English.
They are expendable - can easily be replaced.
Take jobs for lower wages - they are resented for doing this.

9. Where do they live?
Most immigrants moved to an area with others similar to them:
Can continue customs, language, food, etc.
Birth of Chinatown, Little Italy, Little Poland, etc.

10. Home, Sweet Home Immigrants had to live in tenements - in the slums.
So many immigrants were arriving, building started to go up, not out.

11. Tenement Issues Most are run by unethical landlords.
They are there for profit only.
Common issues:
Floors leaked
Pipes burst
Stairs were broken
Plaster fell off the walls
Cold in winter, hot in summer

12. Tenement
Tenements were built to accommodate as many people as possible.
They had 5-6 floors, each floor divided into several apartments.
Each apartment was divided into a number of very small rooms.
Sometimes 9 or more people crammed into each room.

14. Making Ends Meet
Some families had to rent out parts of their apartment to borders for extra money.
13 to 14 single men would share a room.
Many had to sleep on the floor.