1. What do you think a Push Factor would be and what would be a Pull Factor?

2. Definitions
Push Factor: A reason why someone would be forced to/choose to move, migrate, emigrate from a certain place.
Pull Factor: A reason why someone would choose to move, migrate, immigrate to a particular place
Emigrate: Leave a country
Immigrate: Come to a country

3. Old Immigrants Refers to immigration of the mid 19th century
Primarily Irish and Germans with other Northern and Western Europeans
Chinese had just started coming over but not in large numbers
With the exception of the Irish they were mostly Protestant and not particularly poor compared to many Americans
Those from England and usually Ireland spoke English
About 7 million between 1820 and 1870

4. New Immigrants
Refers to people that arrived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries (after 1885)
Primarily Southern and Eastern Europeans such as Italians, Greeks, Slovaks, Hungarians, Russians, etc. on the East Coast and Chinese on the West Coast
Primarily Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, or Jewish
Many were absolutely destitute- meaning they had absolutely nothing when they came
Few spoke English
About 23 million between 1880 and 1920

5. The Irish Potato Famine (Push)
Potatoes were the main food source for most of Ireland (1/3 of the population)
- They produced many other foods but most of these needed to be sold
In 1845 a disease started to affect most of the potatoes so they rotted while still growing in the ground

6. The Irish Potato Famine (Push)
Caused famine (a lack of food) and many people starved
- Over 1,000,000 Irish died between 1845 and 1852
Eventually spread to the rest of Europe

8. Revolution (Push) Germany had a particularly large and violent one
1848 is often called the year of revolutions because several happened in Europe
Germany had a particularly large and violent one
Many people want to avoid the violence
Many other people may have been involved and needed to escape their governments
1910 Revolution in Mexico caused similar turmoil

9. Religious Persecution (Push)
The Irish were treated poorly by the British for being Catholic
- They may not have realized that the same prejudice existed in America
In the early 20th century many Jews faced violence in Eastern Europe
- Russia in particular engaged in pogroms (attacks on Jewish communities)
Many Armenians in the Ottoman Empire faced similar oppression

10. Jobs (Push and Pull)
Europe has a higher population density (more people in less space) and fewer jobs available in cities
- Some skilled craftsmen may have been driven out of business by industrialization
- Farms in Europe were typically very small due to lack of land

11. Jobs (Push and Pull)
America is industrializing rapidly so it has many factory jobs
Cities are growing rapidly so there are many construction jobs
Lots of farmland available

12. Democracy and Freedom (Pull)
Once Immigrants became citizens they could vote and influence politics
- In Europe at this time there were few representative governments
Religious freedom
Freedom of speech

14. Myth of the American Dream (Pull)
Many immigrants and poor Americans believed America offered the prospect for upward mobility (gaining wealth and societal stature)
Many Europeans were lured by famous success stories (like Andrew Carnegie)
The hardships faced by most immigrants did not stop these stories from spreading

15. Pushes and Pulls for Migration of Natural Born Americans
Sharecropping and the crop lien system were making life hard for farmers
- Farmers were forced to borrow money against their future crops to pay for supplies and necessities of life
- Often those crops were not worth enough to cover the debt

16. Pushes and Pulls for Migration of Natural Born Americans
In the late 1800's machines began to replace people on farms
Work available in cities
African Americans hoped to find more opportunities:
- jobs
- education
- less discrimination