1. Chapter 14 “A New Spirit of Change 1820-1860” Section 1 “The Hopes of Immigrants”
Main Idea: In the mid-1800s, millions of Europeans came to the United States hoping to build a better life.
Terms and Names:
1. emigrant 5. pull factor
2. immigrant 6. famine
3. steerage 7. prejudice
4. push factor 8. nativist

2. I. Why did people migrate?
1. “Push” factors are negative forces that
make a person want to leave a country.
For example:
a. population growth
b. agricultural changes
c. crop failures
d. Industrial Revolution
e. religious and political turmoil
I. Why did people migrate?
A. During the 1800s, immigrants flocked to the U.S. from Britain, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

3. 2. “Pull” factors are positive forces that draw a person into a particular country. For example: a. freedom b. economic opportunity c. abundant land

4. II. Why did Scandinavians seek land and where did they find it?
A. Poverty pushed Swedes out of Scandinavia. Cheap land and a familiar climate pulled them into the Western region of the U.S. Most settled in Minnesota and Wisconsin and became farmers.

5. III. Where and how did Germans pursue economic opportunity?
A. Germans, the largest immigrant group of the time, also settled in the West to farm in rural (country) areas. Others achieved success as bakers, butchers, carpenters, printers, shoemakers, tailors and traveling salesmen. They settled in the Midwest and Texas.

6. IV. How did the Irish flee hunger and why? And where did they go?
A. A potato famine in 1845 caused 1 million people to die and between 1.5 and 2 million Irish fled their country. Many arrived in the U.S., uneducated and poor. They settled in East coast major urban areas (cities), surviving by doing low-paying, back-breaking work.

7. V. Why did U. S. cities face overcrowding. What happened when they did
V. Why did U.S. cities face overcrowding? What happened when they did? And how did they manage it?
A. Immigrants and native-born Americans arrived in the cities hoping to find a better life. What they found was inadequate sewage, disease, crime and a shortage of housing with enough square footage.

8. VI. How did immigration aid industrialization?
A. Immigrants provided a steady work force for factories in the cities, and this work paid better than they had made at home.

9. VII. Why did some Americans oppose immigration and how?
A. Some native-born Americans feared that immigrants would not learn to be “American” or would come to out-number Americans. Nativists refused to hire immigrants and Know Nothing Party members worked to stop them from holding political office.

10. Re-read Chapter 14 Section 1 (pp. 423-428) and answer these questions:
Directions: Answer the following questions, using complete sentences.
What were “push” factors and what were “pull” factors?
2. Where did German immigrants settle in the United States and why?
3. What effects did the Potato Famine have on the Irish?
4. What problems did immigrants face in the cities?
5. Why were some U.S. born citizens prejudiced against immigrants?