IMMIGRATION

Sought to escape
difficult conditions
Famine,
 Land shortages
 Religious/political
persecution


“Birds of Passage”
Immigrate temporary
 Earn money
 Return to homelands

EUROPEANS
1870-1920- 20 million
 Europe-180-1900 population doubled (400
million)
 Image- US had numerous jobs
 Arrived on east coast (Ellis Island)
 1 week journey

OLD VS NEW IMMIGRATION
New
Old





1820-1860 from
northern or western
Europe [German,
English, and
Norwegian].
Mostly Protestants
Literate and skillful in
professions
Came to America with
money/wealth
Experienced in
democracy.





1880-1924 from
southern or eastern
Europe [Italians, Poles,
eastern Europe Jews].
Asians
Religions were either
Catholic, Orthodox, or
Jewish
Illiterate and unskilled
(with some exceptions)
They came with little to
no money
CHINESE
West coast
 California Gold Rush 1848
 Helped build rr, farming, mining, and domestic
service
 Chinese immigration limited-1882
 Asian immigrants- 3 week journey

JAPANESE
1884- Hawaiian planters recruited Japanese
workers
 US annexed Hawaii in 1898
 1907- 30,000 Japanese came to US
 1920- 200,000 lived on west coast

WEST INDIES AND MEXICO
Jamaica, Cuba, Puerto Rico (West Indies)
 Scarce jobs and industrial boom (image of an
abundance of jobs in US)
 Mexican immigration

Farm lands in western states
 1910- political and social situations in Mexico
 700,000 (7% of Mexican population) over 20 years

ELLIS ISLAND
New York Harbor
 Main immigration station in US
 17 million immigrants
 Inspection




Physical exam: serious health problems, contagious
diseases, tuberculosis sent home
Government: checked documentation, questioned
immigrants to see if met legal requirements (never
been convicted of a felony, able to work, had some
money)
Only 2% were denied entry
ANGEL ISLAND
San Francisco Bay
 Primarily Asians (Chinese)
 1910-1940- 50,000 Chinese immigrants
 Processing harsher than Ellis Island



Harsh questioning
Detained in filthy buildings
CULTURE SHOCK

When someone feels confused, uncomfortable, nervous, etc.
when he or she goes to a place that is unfamiliar to them
MELTING POT
Native born Americans thought of US as a
melting pot
 Blend of different cultures
 Many immigrants wanted to keep their customs
and cultural identity
 Strong anti-immigrant feelings

Nativism= favoritism towards native-born Americans
 Push for immigrant restriction

NATIVISM

Increased the desire for immigration restriction
 Chinese Exclusion Act- 10 year immigration
restriction for Chinese laborers
 Gentlemen’s Agreement (1907)- Japanese
students in San Francisco put in separate
schools. Japan raised a protest, Theodore
Roosevelt agreed to lift segregation order if
Japan would not send unskilled emigrants.
PROBLEMS IN URBAN

Housing


Transportation


Tenements
Mass transit
Water

No indoor plumbing
Sanitation
 Crime
 Fires

EMPLOYEE RESPONSES TO STRIKES AND
UNIONS
Blacklisting- names of people to be barred from
employment
 Lockouts- Company does not let employees come
to work
 Scabs- a person who works despite strike action
or against the will of other employees
 Yellow dog contract- Contract saying the
employer will not join a labor union
 Open Shop- Workers have choice to join labor
union. “right to work” states
 Closed Shop- Workers do not have choice, have to
join union
