1. The Immigrant Experience
ELLIS ISLAND
The Immigrant Experience

2. The New Immigration Immigration continued at a high rate.
From 1850s-1870s, more than 2 million per decade
1880s - Five million.
1882 alone, nearly 800 thousand
Until the 1880s most immigrants integrated into American society relatively easily  Why?

3. New Immigrants Integrated differently. Why?
Were swarthier, more Jewish, more Orthodox Christians
Poorer and not used to democratic governments
More illiterate
Did not come looking for farming opportunities  Came looking for work, and were comfortable living in cities working industrial jobs.

4. New Immigrants Lived together in mini-cities within cities.
Consequences?
Americans began to fear that US a dumping ground for Europe’s refuse.

5. Annual Immigration, 1860–1997

6. Southern Europe Uprooted
Southern and Eastern Europeans left for a number of reasons:
Europe crowded
Also, persecutions in Europe drove some out. Pogroms in 1880s in eastern Europe.
60 Million Europeans abandoned the old continent in the 19th century  Half to US.
“America Fever” developed in Europe

7. Southern Europe Uprooted
Railroads, industries and states actively recruited immigrants
Eastern European Jews
“Birds of passage”
Tensions between immigrants and children.
Jewish Bagel Peddler

8. Immigrants
In 1860 the resident population of the U.S. was 31.5 million people. Between 1865 and 1920, close to 30 million additional people entered the country.
These people were fleeing crop failures, land and job shortages, rising taxes and famine. Some were also escaping religious or political persecution.

9. Characteristics of the “New Immigrant”
From Southern and Eastern Europe
Many young males
Many Catholics and Jews
Mostly unskilled agricultural laborers
Little money or education
“I once thought to write a history of the immigrants in America. Then I discovered that immigrants WERE American history.”
--Oscar Handlin

10. Push and Pull Factors

11. Push Factors (Get OUT!) Economic decline in Europe
Effect of Industrial Revolution
Rising populations, decreasing death rate
More people + fewer resources = TROUBLE!!
Political and Religious Persecution in Eastern Europe
Legal restrictions on Jews
Pogroms=violent mob attacks
Other ethnic minorities

12. Pull Factors The Lure of Life in America (Work, land, and LIES!!)
“That was the time, you see, when America was known to foreigners as the land where you’d get rich. There’s gold on the sidewalk– all you have to do is pick it up!”-Lithuanian immigrant

13. Journey Across the Atlantic
                                   
Steerage on the SS Pennland 1893

14. Steerage Conditions
Crowded, unsanitary, little food, enclosed! –Journal 3

15. The Island
Ellis Island served as the portal for a majority of new immigrants from 1892 till it closed in 1954.
More than 12 million immigrants were processed here.

16. Unloading and Baggage

17. Stairs of Separation
As the immigrants walked up the staircase, U.S. Public Health Officials watched them for signs of a number of illnesses.

18. The Great Hall

19. Time For Inspections
                                                                                         

20.                              
Medical Inspections

21. Medical Exams
The Inspector would take about 7 seconds to determine if the immigrant had any infectious diseases.
Some would be sent back and some detained in quarantine.
Only two percent of the arriving immigrants were excluded from entry.

22. Legal Inspections– Registry Hall

24. The Final Inspection
Journal Entry 4

25. Cafeteria Here immigrants were served their first “taste of America”.
They were often introduced to new dishes—such as ice cream.

26. Dormitories
Immigrants that were detained for medical or other reasons stayed in these rooms, tightly packed with rows of bunk beds.

27. The Kissing Post
After immigrants were approved for admission, they would walk down the stairs to meet their loved ones.
This area became known as the kissing post.

28. Final Destination
Only one third of the immigrants who came to the United States through Ellis Island stayed in New York City. Most scattered across the country.
Immigrants were given tags to pin to their hats or coats. The tags showed railroad conductors what lines the immigrants were traveling and what connections to make to reach their destinations.

29. Ethnic Enclaves 2/3 settle in urban centers (community, familiarity)
Newspapers, customs, food, churches, clothing
“Here no one goes to bed on an empty stomach because one Pole will save another, if he can.” –Polish immigrant

31. Urban Living Conditions
Immigrants often lived in buildings abandoned by middle-class residents and converted into multifamily units.
These tenements soon became identified as “slums”.
Many families would cram into spaces only meant for a few.
Many immigrants tended to settle with others from the same country creating the ethnic neighborhoods and sections that can still be found in many big cities today.

32. Urban Living Conditions
Outside the tenements, raw sewage and garbage littered the streets.
Contagious diseases raged in such conditions.
Babies were especially susceptible.
In NYC, in one district of tenements, six out of ten babies died before their first birthday.

33. Living Conditions
5 cents a spot

34. Tenement Living 120 rooms for 1231 people 60% die before 1st birthday
Journal Entry 5

35. Working Conditions Immigrants Seek Industrial Jobs
High supply/high demand
Prefer to agricultural work
80% unskilled workforce

36. Struggling Families

37. Child Labor
Journal Entry 6

38. Immigration From Asia

39. Immigration from the East
1. Gold Rush and Railroad Work pulled Chinese to America. 2. Worked for less pay which created conflicts.

40. Exclusion Act: Shutting the Doors on the Chinese
Depression
A. Blamed Chinese for 1870s
Depression.
B. Mob Violence
C. Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
1. Prohibited immigration for 10
years

41. Angel Island: The Ellis Island of the West
1. Angel Island Immigration Station
(1910)
2. Harder to get into America
3. Detained

42. Other Asian Groups Immigrate to the United States
Chinese Exclusions Act created shortages.
1. Korea, Philippines and Japan
2. Gentlemen's Agreement

43. Immigration from North and South
Immigrants From Mexico
1. Cheap Labor
2. Faced Discrimination
French Canadians
1. Faced Discrimination

44. Americans’ Treatment of Immigrants/Nativism

45. Motivation For Nativism
Fear, hostility, and suspicion
Prejudices based on race,
ethnicity, religion
Old Immigrants vs. New Immigrants
“The immigrants are an invasion of venomous reptiles…long-haired, wild-eyed bad-smelling, atheistic, reckless foreign wretches, who never did a day’s work in their lives.” –from a newspaper editorial
Some similarities to today (i.e. jobs)

46. The ‘Golden Door’ Slams Shut
Literacy tests to prevent
‘inferior races’
Call for laws restricting immigration
1921 Dillingham Bill sets quotas
Journal Entry 7