1. Through Ellis Island Island: The Immigrant Experience
What was it like to be an immigrant to the United States around the turn of the century?

2. Statue of Liberty Gift from France in 1886
Greeted all immigrants entering through New York Harbor

3. Land of Opportunity Waves of immigration:
1840’s – 1890’s-most came from Northern and Western Europe. Irish, British, and Germans.
Late 1800’s immigration from southern and eastern Europe increased…Italians, Greeks, Hungarians, Poles and Russians began to dominate the numbers of immigrants to the US.

4. Freedom
Late 1800’s many Jews in Europe were persecuted for their beliefs in nations like Russia. They fled to the United States for freedom.

5. Work
Many came for work in…some got on trains in New York and went for work in bigger cities:
Boston
Cleveland
Chicago
Farms on the Midwest

6. Population Growth
From 1870 to 1920 proportion of Americans that lived in cities jumped from 25 percent to 50 percent.
Urbanization-The growth of cities.

7. Political Bosses
Immigrants oftentimes looked to political bosses for help in finding jobs. Tammany Hall-William “Boss” Tweed of New York’s political machine. Used political power to get immigrants jobs and used ward and precinct bosses to do so.

8. Patronage-giving jobs to friends and supporters Pendleton Act-Set guidelines for hiring civil service employees to stop the favortism.

9. Chinese Exclusion Act People in California blamed Chinese people for
their economic woes.
Innocent Chinese were made scapegoats and became victims of mob violence.
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)-Law prohibited the immigrants from China, skilled or unskilled, for a period of 10 years. Prevented Chinese from becoming citizens. This is the first time the US restricted immigration based on only race.

10. Northern and Southern Immigration
Between 1865 and 1900 over 900,000 immigrants arrived from Canada. Many also came from Mexico looking for work as well as to escape the Mexican Revolution.