What region in Europe was the source of the most
immigrants to America at the turn of the 20th Century?
I. Who were the “new” immigrants?
Before 1890, most immigrants were
from Northern and Western Europe
After 1890, most “new” immigrants were
from Southern and Eastern Europe
II. Reasons for immigration:
“Push” Factors
-Unemployment
-Poverty
-Famine
-Overpopulation
-Political Persecution
-Anti-Semitism
“Pull” Factors
II. Reasons for immigration:
“Push” Factors
-Unemployment
-Poverty
-Famine
-Overpopulation
-Political Persecution
-Anti-Semitism
“Pull” Factors
-Employment
-“streets paved with
gold”
-Religious Freedom
-Political Freedom
-Steamboat Ads
America as a land of opportunity and freedom
III. The Journey
Titanic
Journey: 3,000 miles, 2-3 weeks
Steerage- 3rd class, below deckcargo section of steamboat
“First-Class people, all the
rich people, were way
above. I’d look up at them,
they were all dressed nice,
and we were like a flock of
sheep down below.”
Paulina Caramando,
Sicily
Fresh Air
The Statue of Liberty
was a sign the immigrants
had made it to America
“Give me your tired ,your
poor, your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free”
Emma Lazarus, 1883
Ellis Island- primary
processing station for
European immigrants
(1892-1954)—
1907 peak year with 11,747
in one day!
ID Tags
“Line inspection”- doctors observe
immigrants for physical or mental “defects”
Check for trachoma,
contagious eye disease
“Registry Room”immigrants questioned about
political beliefs, marital status,
prospective employment, skills,
etc.
80% of immigrants through
Ellis Island “admitted”
to America
“New” immigrants (Slavs, Italians, Poles) contributed the
primary labor force for America’s Industrial Revolution
Textile Mills, Steel Mills, Coal Mines—
low pay and dangerous conditions
IV. “Nativist” Resistance
(1880-1910) 8.4 million immigrants arrived
1,285,000 in 1907
Immigration Restriction League, American Protective Association
fear immigrants would take jobs, prejudice based on
religious and cultural differences
Eugenics- “well-born,” belief that through selective “breeding”
humans could improve their condition- poverty,
alcoholism, thievery, etc. were inherited traits
(favored sterilization, euthanasia of “defected” babies, execution
of “feeble minded”, no intermarriage, limitation of “new”
immigrants)
"The population of the United States will, on account
of the great influx of blood from Southeastern Europe,
rapidly become darker in pigmentation, smaller in
stature, more given to crimes of larceny, kidnapping,
assault, murder, rape and sex immorality. And the ratio
of insanity in the population will rapidly increase."
Charles Davenport, 1911
Eugenics Records Office
“Black Stork”
Dr. Haiselden
allowed
children with
“defects”
to die–
supported by
some as humane
Advice Books
Every 18 seconds a
person is born
who will never
develop mentally
beyond a normal
8 yr. old
Every 50 seconds
a person is put in
jail. Very few
normal persons
go to jail.
Every 16
seconds a
person is
born in U.S.
Every 7 ½ minutes
a high grade person
is born who will
have ability to
do creative work
and be fit for
leadership. About
4% of all Americans.
“Every 15 seconds $100 of your money goes for the case of persons
with bad heredity such as the insane feeble minded criminals and other
defectives”
Fitter Family Contestsmeasured beauty, intelligence,
morality, mental health
What does
this political
cartoon suggest
to solve the
immigrant problem?
V. Congress Acts to “Protect” America from
“inferior” peoples- “genetic suicide”
Immigration Restriction Act of 1921
(Emergency Quota Act)- limit each nationality
to 3% of census in 1910
Johnson-Reid Act 1924- limited each nationality to 2% of
census in 1890
***Both lows cut off most immigration to America for several decades
VI. Huge influx of immigrants lead to the development
of cities (urbanization): New York, Chicago, Detroit,
Cleveland, Pittsburgh
Factories provide jobs but workers
often lived in poor conditions.
Tenements- cheap housing in city
multifamily dwellings
Slums associated with
overcrowding and
poor sanitation
Little Italy
To cope in their new
surroundings immigrants often
settled in ethnic neighborhoods
Chinatown
Rapid growth of cities caused housing shortages
and need for new public services- sewage and
water systems and public transportation
N.Y. City 1st subway system
Richmond, Va. installs 1st electric streetcar/ trolley
VII. Becoming American
Immigrants began process of assimilation- “Melting Pot”
Children learn English, American customs, citizenship.
Public school served an essential role in assimilation.
What does this process of assimilation resemble?
QUESTION:
What if immigrants worked hard and learned English and still
were poor? What social theory attempted to explain why many
“new” immigrants lived in poor slums at the turn of the 20th?
Social Darwinism- “survival of the fittest”
Jane Adams- opens settlement house in
Chicago called Hull House. Outlet for
charity work. Rejected blaming
immigrants for being poor.
Hull House provided classes-English, civics, cooking, dress making
kindergarten, laundry, employment, day care, legal aid, health care
Charles Loring Bracefounded New York Children’s Aid Society
alternative to slums- Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA)
Brace- takes on issue of orphans
Orphan Trains--- children taken from streets and
sent to western farms, Christian families