1. Immigration:
Coming to America

3. The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Emma Lazarus, 1883

4. WHY? 1865 - 1914 Over 25 Million Immigrants came to US.
End of Civil War to World War I
Over 25 Million Immigrants came to US.
WHY?

5. Conditions that drive people from their homes or homeland.
Push Factors
Conditions that drive people from their homes or homeland.

6. Conditions that attract immigrants to a new country.
Pull Factors
Conditions that attract immigrants to a new country.

7. Push Factors for Immigration Pull Factors for Immigration
Famine (Ireland)
War/Revolution
Religious Persecution (pogroms against Russian Jews)
Political Persecution
Scarce Land
Farm jobs lost to invention of new machines
Poverty (no hope of improving standard of living)
Promise of freedom and equality under the law
Economic Opportunity (raise standard of living)
Jobs available (factories)
Friends or family have already settled in America

8. 70 % of all immigrants came through New York City at...
"Golden Door"
70 % of all immigrants came through New York City at...

9. Ellis Island, NY

10. Arrival: into the Great Hall…

11. 1892-1954 was headquarters of U.S. immigration.
At least 16 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island

13. Italians wait their turn…

14. All immigrants riding in “steerage” had to pass through inspection at Ellis Island: medical exam and then interview

16. Chalk marks used to single out immigrants with medical problems:
Back

17. If all their papers were in order, and they passed the medical exams, the typical time through Ellis Island was 3-5 hours

18. Passed through and waiting to depart for New York…

19. Who came to America?

20. “Old vs New” Immigrants

21. “Old Immigrants” from Northern & Western Europe
First Wave (Old):
Irish
English
Scottish
German
“Old Immigrants” from Northern & Western Europe

22. Second Wave (New):
Italy
Poland
Austrians
Hungarians
Russia
Ukraine
Norway
Sweden
Denmark
Greece
Czechs
Slovaks
“New Immigrants” from Eastern & Southern Europe

23. Causes of rapid growth of US cities in late 1800s…
Immigrants
Americans moving to cities (as frontier closed)
African Americans (prejudice, hard times)

24. Rapid growth of cities in US leads to:
Poor Living Conditions (tenement slums)
Ethnic Neighborhoods

25. Nativists:
Opposed immigration. Wanted to preserve America for native-born, white protestants.
Saw foreigners as threat (job competition)

26. Chinese Exclusion Act:
1882 – act passed to limit number of immigrants from China.

27. Assimilation: the process of blending into society by adopting the dominant culture.
Acculturation: learning and adapting new ways while still hanging on to old traditions.
America becomes a “melting pot” of immigrant cultures.