The
New Immigration
Who Were the New Immigrants?
Those immigrants who came to the
United States in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries.
1860/1880/1890 until 1920. *depending
upon historians view point.
Who were the OLD
Immigrants?
The first immigrants
Those who had traveled across the land bridge
that once connected North America and Asia
The first immigrants
from the Old World
Columbus & Spanish
The conquistadores
missionaries
The English
Virginia Company
Puritans
Quakers
The Dutch
traders
The French
Fur trappers
missionaries
African slaves
“Old Immigrants”
Old Immigrants
IMMIGRANTS PRIOR
TO 1890
Primarily from
Western &
Northern Europe
They came from
Ireland
Germany
England
Wales
Scotland
Irish immigration
In Ireland, the
potato famine was
wreaking havoc.
Across the rest of
the continent, the
economy was
changing. Big
landowners pushed
peasants off their
land. New factories
made craftsmen
obsolete
German immigration
Irish and German
immigrants, who were
seeking to escape from
wars, economic
dislocations and
religious and ethnic
discrimination in their
own countries, were
attracted to the City by
the abundant demand
for unskilled labor and
the militant
commitment of the
democratic party to
Democratic equality.
The New Immigration
“The greatest
free migration of
people in human
history”
1880-1920
During these years
approximately 20
million Europeans
immigrate to the United
States.
What were the Reasons the
New Immigrants came to
the United States?
Hope for a better life.
To escape poverty. To find
employment.
To escape famine and land shortages in
Europe.
The chance to own land in America.
To escape religious persecution.
To escape political persecution.
The New Immigrants came
from
Southern and
Eastern Europe
Italy
Russia
Austria-Hungary
Poland
Greece
Turkey
Romania
Ireland *
The New Immigrants also
came from
Asia
China
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Caribbean nations
European Immigrants
European Immigrants
Escaping Religious
Persecution
Thousands of
European Jews
immigrated to the
United States to
escape POGROMS in
Russia & Poland.
Anti-Semitism
Religious persecution
of the Jewish people
European Immigrants
Left Europe’s
rigid social class
system
Came to America
where a person
could better their
social/economic
status.
European Immigrants
LAND
Immigrants left
Europe because a
lack of available
farm land to gain.
The United States
offered the
possibility of owning
LAND.
Homestead Act of
1862.
European Immigrants
REFORM
Progressive and
democratic reforms
taking place in the
United States inspired
Europeans to come to
have a greater say in
how they are governed
and to live better lives.
Old Monarchies and
Political Turmoil in
Europe dismayed many
younger Europeans who
felt there was no chance
for change.
“Birds of Passage”
Chinese Immigrants
Why Chinese Immigrants
came to “Gold Mountain”
California Gold Rush
(1850s)
Work on
Transcontinental
Railroad and railroad
building.
Work on farms and in
mines in the West.
To operate businesses
in America.
Chinese Immigration
Peak years of
immigration was
1851-1883
Approximately
200,000 Chinese
Immigrants enter
the United States.
Reaction to Chinese
Immigrants
During difficult
economic times of
1870s, unemployed
Americans targeted
their anger against
Chinese labors who
they saw as taking
their jobs.
Anti-Chinese riots
broke out in a number
of cites.
The Chinese
Exclusion
Act
Banned all Chinese
Laborers.
Only Chinese allowed to
enter the United States
were 1) students, 2)
teachers, 3) merchants,
4) government officials,
and 5) tourists.
Angel
Island
Thomas Nast cartoons on
Chinese Immigration
Thomas Nast on Chinese Immigration
“Every Dog (No
Distinction of Color
)has his Day.”
Red Gentleman to
Yellow Gentleman.
“Pale face ‘fraid you
crowd him out, as he
did me
“And Still They Come”
Japanese Immigrants
Japanese Immigration
Japanese were recruited
to work on Hawaiian
fruit and sugar
plantations.
When Hawaii became a
United States territory
allowed opened up
Japanese immigration to
the West Coast of the
United States.
By 1920, approximately
200,000 Japanese
immigrants living on the
West Coast of the United
States.
San Francisco School
Board Incident & The
Gentlemen’s
Agreement
Immigrants from the
West Indies
Between 1880 and
1920, more than
260,000 West
Indians immigrated
to the United States.
Jamaica, Cuba,
Puerto Rico, Haiti,
the Dominican
Republic and other
islands.
Jobs. Jobs. Jobs.
Settled largely in
Florida, New
Orleans, Gulf states,
and NEW YORK
CITY.
Immigrants from
Mexico
MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS
TREATY OF
GUADALUPE
HIDALGO (1848)
United States
acquired Mexican
Cession from the
Republic of Mexico
for $15 million
dollars
All Mexicans living
in the Mexican
Cession were
granted United
States citizenship.
Mexican Immigration
Newlands Act, aka
The National
Reclamation Act of
1902.
Provided advance
irrigation to
agricultural areas of
the Desert Southwest
of the United States.
Thousands of
Mexicans immigrate
to work on farms in
the American
Southwest.
Mexican Immigration
The Mexican
Revolution.
Thousands left
Mexico to escape
political, economic
and social turmoil.
7% of entire
Mexican
population
immigrates to
United States.
The Journey to the New World
The New Colossus
Emma Lazarus
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!"
Ellis Island
This became the primary entry
point for millions of Europeans
who immigrated to the United
States.
Immigrant Inspection
G H ETT O S
Most immigrants settled
in communities settled by
fellow immigrants from
their homelands. Many
would settle in the cities
of their ports of entry.
The Challenge of Cities
Between 1880 & 1920, 11 millions left the economic hardships
of the farms for the opportunities that cities offered.
The Suburbs
Residential communities surrounding the cities.
Motorized transportation made living outside of
cities and commuting to work in cities possible.
Chicago 1871
Chicago 1916
Skyscrapers: Cities grow
upwards as well as outwards
The elevator, invented by Elisha Graves Otis in 1852, made skyscrapers possible.
The Chicago Home Insurance Company building (1885) and the Wainwright
building (1891) in St. Louis were two of the first skyscrapers built.
Living in the Cities
How the Other Half Lives
Jacob Riis
Danish
immigrant,
photojournalist,
writer, reformer,
PROGRESSIVE
N AT IV I S M
Favoring native-born Americans over immigrants.
The American
Protective
Association
•Targeted immigrants
as unwanted.
•Called for teaching of
English language only
in schools.
•Wanted tougher
conditions for
citizenship.
•Wanted stricter laws
on employing
immigrants
•Particularly despised
Catholics.
IMMIGRATION
RESTRICTION LEAGUE
Formed by Harvard
graduates in 1894
Wanted a literacy test
used to exclude
immigrants considered
unfit.
Particularly disliked
immigrants from
Southern and Eastern
Europe (the “New
Immigrants”)
P U C K
“Looking Backward”
City Politics & Corruption
The Political “B O S S”
Individual who organizes,
manages, leads and dominates a
political party in given area (city,
county, state, or national level).
“Boss”Tweed
Held numerous jobs including being a chairmaker, a
bookkeeper, a member of father's brush-man firm, and a
volunteer fireman.
Became an alderman to New York city in 1851 and rose
quickly through the ranks
Major Accomplishments:
Built his power in Tammany Hall through the
appointment and election of his friends (called the
'Tweed Ring')
Conned and plundered the city of New York out of
between 30-200 million dollars
Significance:
Controlled all Democratic New York state and city
nominations from 1860-1870
Used illegal means to force election of his choice for New
York governor, New York City mayor, and speaker of the
assembly
Raised public indignation against graft and was convicted
and sentenced to prison (Note: He was also sued by the
city of New York in a civil suit. He escaped from jail and
fled to Spain. He was identified there from a cartoon
drawn by Thomas Nast. He was returned to New York
and died in jail there.)
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall was the name
given to the Democratic political
machine that dominated New
York City politics
Immigration & “Boss” politics
Immigrants
AND
Political
Machines &
“Boss” politics
“THAT’S WHATS THE MATTER”
Boss Tweed, “ As long as I count the Votes, what are
you going to do about it? Say?”
JOBS, PLACES TO LIVE,
OTHER ASSISTANCE
VOTE EARLY AND VOTE OFTEN
Corruption in Municipal Elections
Arrest of
the Boss
Social Reform
Helping the Needy
Charity Organization
Movement
Made charity a
scientific enterprise
Kept detailed files
of those poor that
were worthy of
helping
Wanted immigrants
to adopt American
middle-class
standards of childrearing, cleaning
and cooking.
Social Gospel Movement
Sought to apply the
teachings of Jesus
Christ to directly
help improve
society.
Focused on ideals
such as justice &
charity, and sought
labor reforms
Wanted improved
living and working
conditions for
workers, including
larger share of
national wealth for
workers.
The Settlement Movement
Settlement House:
kind of community
center, offered social
services
Hull House: opened
by Jane Addams &
Ellen Gates Starr
Offered education,
culture, and hope to
slums
Hull House
Temperance & Prohibition
Temperance
Movement was an
organized campaign
to eliminate alcohol
consumption.
Prohibition Party
Women’s Christian
Temperance Movement
Anti-Saloon League
P R O H I B IT I O N
A ban on the manufacturing
and sale of alcoholic beverages!
Carrie A. Nation
crusaded against the
evils of alcohol with a
hatchet and the Bible
P U R I TY C R U S A D E R S
Those that lead the
fight against immoral
or corrupt behavior,
VICE.
Drugs, gambling,
prostitution and other
forms of corrupt &
decadent behavior
Began attacking
political machines for
corruption in city
politics.
Anthony Comstock founded the New York Society of the
Suppression of Vice.
The Comstock Law
• Prohibited sending
obscene materials
through the mail
(this included any
material that
included
descriptions of birth
control).