Immigration:
Settlement through
the early 1900s
• http://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=VA7La5JgOUk
• http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=QOeuMymIezg
Faces of America
• http://video.pbs.org/video/1409020390/
Our British Heritage
• http://dfilar.edu.glogster.com/engli
sh-influence-in-north-america/
The 4 Waves of Immigration
• http://www.preceden.com/timelines/29
989-waves-of-immigration-in-america
• Write:
– The time period
– The "push/pull" factors
– Who came
• Irish
– Absentee English landlords who took all of the
good stuff as rent
– Forbidden to hold office, purchase land, attain
rank in the military
– limited open religious life
– Potato Famine
– In America
• + White, familiar with the English language, familiar
with political system
• - Catholic, poor, limited skills
Anti Irish sentiment
•
•
•
•
http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/omalley/120/alien/two.html
Questions for the Political Cartoons on Immigration
Go to the site link for political cartoons on Irish immigrants.
What attributes characterize the Irish caricatures in these cartoons?
• Do any of these apply to the perception of Irish people in America
today?
• What was the major fear Americans had of the Irish?
• Is there any similar type of fear that Americans have today of a
certain immigrant group?
• German
– Revolutionary spirit forced out professionals, scholars,
and educators (suppressed media, liberals were jailed)
– Considered intelligent, cultured, and were thus more
accepted
– As well, they came as families and moved to the
Midwest
•
•
•
•
+ White; Protestant; educated
- Catholic; non-English speaking
http://maxkade.iupui.edu/adams/toc.html
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/png02
"Old Immigrants"
• 1st & 2nd Waves (British, Irish, German)
• Similarities (for the most part):
– Language (English)
– Protestant (except Irish)
– Political System (representative gov't)
– Economic System (industrializing, capitalistic)
Important "Pull Factors"
• First Industrial Revolution-JOBS
• Expansion West--LAND
Good review:
• http://www.ushistory.org/us/25f.asp
"New Immigrants"
• 3rd Wave
• Eastern European
– Russia
Italy
– Greece Austria Hungary
– Turkey
• Differences
– "harsh" guttural language; mostly illiterate; less
skilled; darker hair and darker skin
– Religions: Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, Catholic
– Political system: czars, monarchs
– Economic system: not as industrialized,
beginnings of socialism....
New Immigrants come from below the line
Also part of the 3rd Wave: Chinese
Anti Chinese Sentiments
• http://www.columbia.edu/itc/history/baker/w3630/edit/ch
inpoem.html
• Questions for the Political Cartoons on
Immigration
• Go to the link for the 19th century songs about the Chinese
• What attributes characterize the Chinese in these songs?
• Do any of these apply to the perception of Chinese people
in America today?
• What was the major fear Americans had of the Chinese?
• Is there any similar type of fear that American have today
against an immigrant group?
• In 1882 the first Chinese exclusion law was passed
as the first immigration ban in United States
history. Although passed initially as a ten-year ban,
the law eventually moved towards total exclusion
and Chinese immigrants hoping to improve their
lives during a rough period in China were forced to
enter the country illegally. When ships with
Chinese passengers would arrive in San Francisco,
they would be detained in a shed at the Pacific Mail
Steamship Company Wharf and forced to live in
tiny, cramped spaces. The ban created an era of
extreme racial discrimination against Chinese
people within the United States as well as a
boycott of American goods in China.
Before 1880’s: few restrictions
• After:
– Chinese Exclusion Act
– Law banning “undesirables”
– Law banning “contract labor”
– Opening of Ellis Island
• •Medical exams
• •Documentation checks
• •Pay tax
Good review:
• http://www.ushistory.org/
us/38c.asp
The Arrival at Ellis Island
• •http://www.history.com/topics/ellisisland/videos/arrival-at-ellis-island
• LT3 Reading
• http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/
immigration/tour/index.htm
The Ellis Island Experience
• Feelings towards the New Immigrants
change
– They have difficulty assimilating
• they settle in ethnic enclaves
– The Dillingham Report warns of "them"
subverting American society
– Problems associated with the growing cities
(crime, drunkenness, poor sanitation, etc.) is
attributed to them
Be able to analyze this!
Then to Now (or at least recent)
• Some good information to look at
• http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/timeli
ne.html
• http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommateri
als/presentationsandactivities/presentations/i
mmigration/timeline.html