APUSH ch. 13 part I
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Nature of immigration in mid-1800s?
◦ 1815-40: 800,000 Euro immigrants
◦ 1840-60: 4.2 million Euro immigrants
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Primary immigrants groups?
◦ Irish
◦ Germans
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Smaller (but still significant) immigrant
groups?
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English, Scottish, Welsh
Scandinavian (Norwegian, Swedish)
Swiss
Dutch
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Reasons for Immigration?
◦ Economic opportunity!!!
 Land/farming
◦ Religion
 Quakers
 British Mormons
 Irish Protestants
◦ War
 The European
“Revolutions of 1848”
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Where did Irish settle?
◦ New England (Boston), NY, NJ, Penn.
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Why?
◦ Sailed on British ships headed for trade ports on
Atlantic coast
◦ Didn’t have $$$ to venture out, settled in cities
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Where did Germans settle?
◦ Along upper Mississippi and Ohio rivers
◦ Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, Missouri
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Why?
◦ Sailed on cotton ships headed to New Orleans, then
went up Miss. River
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Major immigrant cities:
◦ St. Louis (over 60% Irish or German)
◦ NY, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Detroit (about
50% Irish or German)
◦ New Orleans, Boston, Baltimore (about 1/3 Irish or
German)
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Diversity?
◦ Religion
 Catholics, Protestants, Jews, atheists
◦ Occupation
 Mostly farmers
 Also doctors, lawyers,
artisans, etc.
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Solidarity?
◦ Common language
◦ No need to go
outside communities
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First wave: 1815-25
◦ Mostly Protestants from middle class
◦ Small farmers and tradespeople
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Second wave: 1825-60
◦ Poor Catholics
◦ Tenant farmers
◦ Great Potato Famine
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What jobs did they take?
◦ Men:
 Construction, canal and
railroad diggers
◦ Women
 Maids, textile mills
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Problems faced?
◦ Anti-Catholicism (secret plots)
◦ Nativism
 Know-Nothings –
political party by 1850s
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Far West
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Trade along California coast
Fur trade in Oregon
Silver trade in New Mexico (Santa Fe Trail)
Settlement in Texas
Why did Americans want to settle in Texas
(Northern Mexico)?
◦ Land – farming!
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Why did the Mexican gov’t want Americans to
settle in Texas?
◦ Buffer zone against Indian attacks
◦ Breakdown of mission system
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How did Mexico lure Americans?
◦ Huge land grants to settlers (empresarios)
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What problems developed b/w Mexican gov’t
and Americans in Texas?
◦ Americans used slaves (outlawed in Mexico)
◦ Religious, linguistic differences
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How did Rebellion begin?
◦ Mex. Pres. Santa Anna begins cracking down on
local gov’ts
◦ Invades Texas to bring it under tighter control
◦ American settlers decide on independence
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Leaders of Texas Rev.
◦ Political – Stephen Austin
◦ Military – Sam Houston
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Major points
◦ The Alamo – old abandoned mission
 187 Texan defenders and volunteers from US
 Santa Anna kills, captures, executes them all
 Incl. Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie
◦ Goliad – 300+ prisoners executed
◦ San Jacinto – final battle
 Houston’s forces surprise & crush Santa Anna’s
forces
 Treaty giving Texas independence
 Texas ind. nation from 1836-45